Tanner Foust took home the top trophy during both days of the 2017 Red Bull Global Rallycross Seattle double-header weekend, held Sept. 9 and 10 at the Evergreen Raceways in Monroe.
“Seattle has been a great place for me to race over the years, but this weekend was really special,” said Foust after collecting his second trophy of the weekend. “Taking back-to-back wins like that is just what we needed to do for the championship, and I’m super proud to deliver these trophies for my crew who have worked super hard all year long.”
Tanner Foust won both days Super class races, with Scott Speed and Chris Atkinson taking second and third place on the first days races, and Scott Speed and Patrik Sandell taking second and third on the second days races. Foust and Speed both race for Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team (Foust in a Rockstar VW and Speed in the Oberto VW), while Chris and Patrik both race for Subaru Rally Team USA.
“It was a great weekend for the team,” said Sandell. “We are really starting to show our speed now, these Subaru WRX STI rallycross cars are really amazing and getting faster all the time. Thank you to Subaru and the team in Vermont for all the effort. For both Chris (Atkinson) and I to earn a pole and a podium here is fantastic and we have a lot of confidence now.”
In the Lites class, Cyril Raymond, Christian Brooks and Travis PeCoy took the top spots (first to third, respectively), while the second day’s races saw Brooks take first, Raymond take second, and Alex Keyes take third. Raymond races for Olsbergs MSE X Forces team, PeCoy, Brooks and Keyes all drive for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
“We had a pretty good start and had a good gap,” said Brooks after winning the second day’s races. “I just kept my head forward and focused on Cyril (Raymond); to beat this guy you cannot make any mistakes, I’m telling you. I was just driving the best I could.”
Both Saturday and Sunday held championship races, tallied for points that add up through the entire racing series. Speed has a commanding lead on Foust in the completed tallies for the GRC super series, with Speed holding 756 points and 726 for Foust. Steve Arpin, of Loenbro Motorsports, commands third place, but didn’t have a successful race at GRC Seattle.
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“This weekend was tough, it was definitely the hardest weekend we’ve had all year,” Arpin said. “We were in perfect position in the main, really taking care of our tires and the tires came apart. We are a small team trying to compete with the big dogs, it’s one of those deals that’s character building. We’re going to come harder than we’ve ever come yet (in LA).”
In the Lights category, Cyril Raymond has more than 100 points on the next contender, leading with 741. Christian Brooks holds second with 633, while Travis PeCoy has third with 615. The final race in the Red Bull Global Rallycross race is in Los Angeles on October 14.
The races weren’t just about the action. Part of the experience of Red Bull Global Rallycross is getting to tour the pits, meet with the drivers and teams, and (maybe) take a piece of racing history home for the wall.
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“My favorite driver, Steve Arpin, I said to him ‘can I have the bumper if its not going on the car’. He said, ‘I’ll give it to you if you win in rock paper scissors,’ and I won,” said Kyler Aust of Snohomish, Wa. “I had no clue, no words. Go Steve!”
According to Aust, he’s come to each Global Rallycross Seattle event (the second at DirtFish at Snoqualmie in 2014 and the third at Evergreen Raceways in 2016*). Both times, he got a unique experience from Arpin. The first time, Arpin tossed Aust on his shoulders and gave him a personal tour around the pits.
“I remember when I was a little kid, my dad was a dirt racer and I’d just stroll around and get autographs from other drivers. To this day, I remember the drivers who paid attention, who stopped to talk with me and wanted to interact with me,” Aprin said. “It made such an impression on me then, that I want to be one of those guys. All these kids have such great personalities, its’ unreal to see them grow year after year. I look forward to coming to Seattle to race, but moreso to see some of these kids from year to year.”
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Another fan moment came near the Northwest Rally Association exhibit. Hager was showing his lightly modified 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 when Andrew Comrie-Picard, BFGoodrich Brand ambassador and ream performance member, came by to chat about it. Comrie-Picard once raced in rally using an Evo.
“In 2009, I met ACP at Olympus Rally. I’m kinda got annoyed with how rally, in general, isn’t that well known,” said David Hager, of Mt. Vernon and Right Meow Racing. “He went off on stage, the first time I was on stage, and I got to talk to him. He told me his story.”
Hager came away with his Evo being signed by Comrie-Picard, an experience that will last a lifetime.
“To see him again, as I’m standing here at GRC and just the fact that he came by, he was cool about it. I was like ‘Hey it’s you. You’re the reason I’m doing this’,” Hager said. “He’s a super down to earth guy. He asked ‘You got a marker?’ and he signed it [the Evo]. It’s nice that he cares that much. Dude, you’re cool.”
Hager is going to clear coat the signature on the Evo and frame the signature he got on a Right Meow Racing sticker. He also plans to do something special with the pictures of Comrie-Picard (and now lives in infamy with a selfie on social media with Comrie-Picard).
Comrie-Pricard was at the races on behalf of BFGoodrich Tires, sponsor of the series and official supplier of tires for all of Global Rallycross. Due to the unique changes in track surface and the impact of the jumps Global Rallycross is known for, BFGoodrich had to develop special tires for the series.
Whether it was on the track or in fan’s hearts, the 2017 Red Bull Global Rallycross series in Seattle was filled with fun times and great racing. Check out the televised Super event on Friday, Sept. 15, and the next Finals races in LA televised live on Oct. 14 and Lites on Wednesday, Oct. 18 (not live).
(More photo galleries all next week! Check back September 18 through 22!)
- Edited for accuracy.
