Defending Red Bull Global Rallycross champion Scott Speed earned his third straight race victory on Sunday, taking the checkered flag in the series’ inaugural visit to Atlantic City. Patrik Sandell and Brian Deegan completed the podium after a hectic final lap that saw late ends to the podium hopes of both Tanner Foust and Steve Arpin.
“Tanner pulled a super awesome move at the beginning, and from that point on we set the tone that we were going to be aggressive in the dirt,” Speed explained. “That’s the risk that you take out there with the ruts that develop, and I had to be at that same aggression level for the first couple of laps to catch up to him.”
An aggressive first lap saw Speed, the event polesitter and winner of all of his preliminary rounds, trade the lead multiple times with teammate Foust. Though it was Foust who would grab the lead out of the lap, Speed would finally close the gap, get past, and open up a gap of his own in the race’s final stages.
Chaos then broke loose on the final lap of the eight-lap main event. Sandell had saved his Joker Lap until the very final circuit, jumping from a top-five position to second place. Behind them, Deegan muscled past his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Arpin to get to fourth, before doing the same to Foust in a reversal of last month’s final lap in Washington DC.
“A couple laps from the end, that aggression from Tanner ended with a tire de-beading,” Speed continued. “Some of that is bad luck, and some of that is aggression—it was very give and take out there, and you had to decide how aggressive you had to take that dirt and how much risk you wanted to take.”
In GRC Lites, Alex Keyes concluded his limited schedule with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing with his fourth career victory and first win of the season. AF Racing Team’s Travis PeCoy placed second, earning his first career podium, while CORE autosport’s Colin Braun was third.
Full results from Red Bull GRC Atlantic City are as follows:
1. Scott Speed, #41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle
2. Patrik Sandell, #18 Bryan Herta Rallysport Ford Fiesta ST
3. Brian Deegan, #38 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST
4. Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle
5. Steve Arpin, #00 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST
6. Sebastian Eriksson, #93 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE Civic Coupe
7. Austin Dyne, #14 AD Racing Ford Fiesta ST
8. Nelson Piquet Jr., #07 SH Rallycross Ford Fiesta ST
9. Sverre Isachsen, #11 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI
10. Bucky Lasek, #81 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI
11. Chris Atkinson, #55 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI
12. Joni Wiman, #31 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE Civic Coupe
13. Kevin Eriksson, #96 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE Civic Coupe
The 2016 Red Bull Global Rallycross season resumes in Seattle on September 16-17 at Evergreen Speedway. Tickets are on sale now at http://www.redbullglobalrallycross.com/tickets. Red Bull GRC Seattle will be shown on Sunday, September 18 at 1:30PM ET on NBC and 2PM ET on Red Bull TV.