Warming up Sunday morning with practice, the
VARX drivers both took to the track, turning initial laps that topped the charts.
Making needed adjustments after first runs, the drivers took a second time to
the track. Finishing the session first, Speed looked strong once again while
Foust finished the session fourth.
With the series once again revising
qualifying’s format between Round 10 and 11, the teams took to the course both
in Group 2. At session’s end, Foust and Speed finishing closely behind the leader,
with Foust second by 0.032 and Speed third by 0.088.
Moving to Heat 1B, Foust and Speed respectively
took to the course for the five-lap contest starting second and third. As Speed
and Foust launched into the lead, Foust shuffled back to third as he ran with
Patrik Sandell. Getting tangled up as he drove to the checkered flag, Foust found
himself involved as competitors merged in the final stretch. With Speed winning
the heat, Foust crossed the finish line settling for fourth.
Heading into Heat 2, Foust kicked off Heat 2A
starting fourth after facing a starting position penalty from Heat 1B. Getting the
jump over the field, Foust crossed the finish line first with a 4.230 second
lead over Mitchell DeJong in second. Starting Heat 2B from pole, Speed launched
into first on the start, winning the heat cleanly over Sandell by 2.189
seconds.
Semifinal A saw Speed start the five-lap race
from pole position with Foust beside him in second. Launching off the starting
line, Speed jumped ahead in first as Foust battled in a drag race for second
going into Turn 1. Winning out, Foust raced on to finish second behind teammate
Speed, winning and collecting valuable points toward his championship run.
VARX once again started from the inside and
outside of Row 1 for Round 11’s Final, this time with Scott Speed taking a pole
position start and Foust third. With the green lights signaling the launch, Speed
and Foust both got a jump over the field on the launch with Foust taking the
lead. Building a 1.7 second lead over Speed at halfway, Foust faced a
hard-charging Speed in second with two laps to go, hanging on to take the
checkered flag in victory, sweeping the weekend in Seattle.
Wrapping up the 2017 season and crowning a championship, VARX looks to lock up their third title in a row as they take to the course for GRC Round 12 Oct. 13 and 14. Qualifying airs Friday, Oct. 13, on NBC Sports Network at 3 p.m. ET. Round 12’s Final broadcasts Saturday, Oct. 14, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Tanner Foust – No. 34 Rockstar Energy Drink
Beetle GRC
Started: 3rd // Finished: 1st
Championship: 2 / 10 (726 pts.)
“It’s true – Scott could have swept the title this weekend. We
held him off from that, but more importantly we held off [Steve] Arpin from
gaining points. Finishing 1-2 twice, that puts [Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross]
in the championship 1-2 with Scott [Speed] leading. It was just an amazing
effort from all the guys – Kyle, Brett, Pricey, Graham, Boomer – everybody put
in everything. Especially with Atlantic City, this is sort of pay back for them
because they rebuilt the car so many times there. Here, it stayed virtually
clean the whole time – I’m happy and can’t tell you what a relief it is. So
happy for the whole team.”
Scott Speed – No. 41 Oberto Circle K Beetle
GRC
Started: 1st // Finished: 2nd
Championship: 1 / 10 (756 pts.)
“We came out of here with
loads of points and plenty of gap for the last race of the year [in Los Angeles].
I think now, between one of us, we’ve secured the driver’s championship which
is great. The cars are clean, they’re not broken, and it’s exactly what we
wanted to come out of here and do. We just need to keep the wheels on it for a
couple of heat races. Going in with 30 points ahead is massive.”