Tanner Foust wins in rallycross in Washington

Tanner Foust

Rockstar Energy Drink driver Tanner Foust is heading into the final doubleheader weekend of the 2016 Global Rallycross season with the championship lead in hand after a big win on Saturday at Evergreen Speedway.

The two-time series champion claimed his fourth victory of the year to move ahead of teammate Scott Speed in the rankings by 13 points. "It's great for the Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Team that the two of us are battling for the championship," said Foust. "It shows the strength of our team and these incredible Volkswagen Beetle rallycross cars."

Although the drivers' championship is still to be decided, the team has already locked in one title. Volkswagen clinched its first-ever GRC manufacturer's championship this weekend.

In wet conditions at the Pacific Northwest track, Foust continued his unbroken string of heat and semifinal race victories this season. The race win boosts him into the record books with a series-high 11 career wins and 23 podium finishes.

Foust said Saturday he was thrilled to be able to deliver the top result to a packed house of enthusiastic local fans. The Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross driver is a local favorite. He has raced in the Seattle area throughout his career, competing in rally, rallycross and drift events. He last visited at Evergreen Speedway a month ago when he took on Formula Drift's "Throwdown" event in his 900-horsepower Rockstar Energy Drink / Nexen Tire Volkswagen Passat.

"As a driver, there's nothing like coming into a race knowing you have the fans in your corner," said Foust. "It was great to see so many familiar faces in the crowd here in Monroe."

Foust will be on his home turf when the series moves to California next month to decide the championship. The driver lives in Newport Beach, just south of the Port of Los Angeles track. "I'm looking forward to being close to home for the season ender," said Foust. "Even though Scott and I are on the same team, you can bet we're both going to be fighting as hard as we can to come out on top of this championship and if there's such a thing as a home-court advantage, I'll take it."

Rallycross is a blend of circuit racing, off-road racing and rally competition. It promises intense crowd-pleasing action in a fan-friendly track environment. As many as 10 drivers line up to start at once, piloting high-horsepower compact cars through race traffic over a challenging short course that features jumps, unbanked turns, hills and transitions between pavement and gravel. It is sometimes described as an action motorsport and is emerging as the top youth-market motorsport in the world.

The championship resumes in just three weeks with the doubleheader Los Angeles weekend. Live coverage of each championship round airs on NBC, with the finale set for Sunday October 9 at 3 p.m.