Scott Speed kept the momentum up from his victory at MCAS New River, and crept up on teammate Tanner Foust in the championship standings, by winning Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Washington DC at RFK Stadium. Patrik Sandell, one of Speed’s top challengers all weekend, placed second, while Foust came home third over Brian Deegan.
“First of all, thank you so much to the fans who came out here at our nation’s capital," said Speed. "There’s no question that this is the race that we all look forward to the most. It’s so great racing here. It means so much to get back to back wins. We are back in the championship hunt—two wins in a row, and we are on a great roll.”
Though the points may say that Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross drivers Speed and Foust swept all six heats and semifinals, their path to doing so was anything but easy—especially in the semifinals. Joni Wiman, the Supercar champion from two years ago, pressured Speed all the way around the course in the first semifinal; in the second, Patrik Sandell used the Joker Lap to jump from fourth to first, only for Foust to muscle his way back into the spot in the dirt section. Steve Arpin won the last chance qualifier.
A downpour just before the LCQ washed out the track for the final two sessions, meaning the main event would be a clean slate for the first two rows of drivers. Fortunately for Speed, the polesitter, he was able to retain the top spot coming around the course for the first time, while Sandell, twice a podium finisher in DC over the past two years, jumped to second.
Those two drivers would hold their spots for the remainder of the race, leaving the real battle for third place. Deegan held the spot for much of the race, frustrating Foust in his repeated attempts to get by. It wasn’t until the final lap that the two-time Supercar champion finally found a way around his former teammate to put both VARX cars on the podium.
“I was inhaling the mud from Deegan from the whole race," said Foust. "We were going back and forth with Brian, and it was such a fun race. I’ll be honest with you, this is such a sketchy track and getting blinded by another car makes it hard to do anything, but it’s super exciting. I tried to stick my nose in there a couple of times—I spun one time and I thought it was over at that point, but I was able to get back. We have been pushing really hard, Scott and I, and we have been really fortunate to get up here a few times. Honestly, behind the scenes the cars are getting torn down, rebuilt, over and over again. On my side, you have the crew just going absolutely at it to build it for the race out here in time. It’s incredible.”
The results from Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross Washington DC, the eighth round of the 2016 Red Bull GRC season:
1. Scott Speed, #41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle
2. Patrik Sandell, #18 Bryan Herta Rallysport Ford Fiesta ST
3. Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle
4. Brian Deegan, #38 Loenbro Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST
5. Joni Wiman, #31 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE Civic Coupe
6. Steve Arpin, #00 Loenbro Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST
7. Nelson Piquet Jr., #07 SH Rallycross/DRR Ford Fiesta ST
8. Austin Dyne, #14 AD Racing Ford Fiesta ST
9. Bucky Lasek, #81 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI
10. Sebastian Eriksson, #93 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE Civic Coupe
11. Sverre Isachsen, #11 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX
DRIVER POINTS:
1. Tanner Foust, 350
2. Scott Speed, 344
3. Steve Arpin, 315
4. Patrik Sandell, 299
5. Brian Deegan, 293
6. Joni Wiman, 235
7. Sebastian Eriksson, 227
8. Austin Dyne, 143
9. Jeff Ward, 134
10. Rhys Millen, 96
11. Bucky Lasek, 26
12. Nelson Piquet Jr., 24
13. Sverre Isachsen, 6
14. Sebastian Saavedra, 3
MANUFACTURER POINTS:
1. Volkswagen, 32
2. Ford, 28
3. Honda, 24
4. Subaru, 4