Taking to Bader Field in the second group of Final Practice on the 0.902-mile course in the shadows of Atlantic City’s skyline, Speed topped the charts after the session with a lap time of 51.815, just 0.200 seconds over his teammate Foust, who finished third.
Dodging raindrops in qualifying’s
Group 2, Speed started the session first with Foust lined up in third. Nabbing
his fourth first-place qualifying run of the 2017 season and third in a row,
Speed claimed the top spot with a lap of 52.621. Finishing the session second
behind his teammate, Foust helped once again prove how strong the VARX Beetles are
by laying down his fastest lap of 53.366.
Moving to Heat 1B, Speed and
Foust started first and third as rain increased, with Speed crossing the finish
line ahead of the field. Unfortunately for Foust, the No. 34 hydroplaned,
causing damage and forcing him to a fifth-place finish.
Starting fourth in Heat 2A, Foust
took his one Joker Lap during the five-lap event on his last turn around the
track, pushing to a solid second-place finish and recovering from Heat 1B’s
rough result. Starting on pole for Heat 2B, Speed hung on to finish second
behind Arpin after serving a stop-and-go penalty.
Semifinal A saw Foust starting
third. As the field took off into Turn 1, Foust moved to first and took off,
leading each lap and winning the event over Atkinson, Bigham and Dyne.
Starting on the pole in Semifinal
B, Speed and others battled into the first turn, with the No. 41 Oberto Circle
K Beetle GRC powering to the front. As the checkers fell on the event, Speed
claimed yet another win.
Round 8’s Final saw Volkswagen
Andretti Rallycross on top yet again with Scott Speed nabbing his fourth event
win of the season. After starting second, behind pole-sitter and teammate
Tanner Foust, Speed shuffled back on a wild start, but pushed through to clinch
victory. Unfortunately for Foust, his Final ended early after contact on track
caused too much damage to finish the race.
Scott Speed – No. 41 Oberto Circle K Beetle GRC
FINALS: Started 2 // Finished 1
SEMIFINAL B: Started 1 // Finished 1
Heat 2B: Started 1 // Finished 2
Heat 1B: Started 1 // Finished 1
Championship: 1 / 10 (535 pts.)
“The start didn’t really go to plan. I went into Turn 1 all
by myself and then the chaos ensued and we came out around fourth. So then, it
was like ‘Ok, now we’ve got to put the gloves on, we’ve got to fight for this.’
We ended up shuffling out the first lap in third, and I decided obviously not
to take the Joker. That’s a bit of a gamble. If someone behind me would’ve
taken it and held us up, that wouldn’t have worked out but fortunately no one
did and I was able to use the Joker on the Honda and take second. Ahead of us
was only Sandell and it came down to the last two laps. He made no mistakes and
it was a really, really hard battle. What a last couple of laps – it was really
fun in the cockpit. That’s definitely a win I’ll remember. We were really fast
here all day. That’s what makes being able to come from behind and get back up
and to get wins – you have to have speed in the car. That’s all Volkswagen
Andretti Rallycross. Our car is unbelievably strong. Thanks to our sponsors,
Oberto, Rockstar, Circle K, we have a great package. Without that, none of this
is possible, so hats off to the whole team.”
Tanner Foust – No. 34 Rockstar Energy Drink Beetle GRC
FINALS: Started 1 // Did Not Finish
SEMIFINAL A: Started 3 // Finished 1
Heat 2A: Started 4 // Finished 2
Heat 1B: Started 2 // Finished 5
Championship: 2 / 10 (528 pts.)
“It
was a pretty up and down day on the Rockstar side of the tent. We qualified
second and ended up overcoming some challenges in the first heat to win the
Semifinal and take pole position for the start of the Final. Everything seemed
according to plan – entered the first corner and that’s when the day turned
downhill. I got a pretty big hit from the train of cars behind and ended up
sending me completely sideways and off into the grass and broke the car, so I
wasn’t able to complete a single lap. It’s a tough ending for the guys since
they recuperated from a challenging morning and I was really hoping to bring
them a win, but we have tomorrow for vindication so we’ll be back with fury.”