Herndon, VA — The Americas Rallycross series hosted its second and third rounds of the 2019 series at a new track at Gateway in Madison, Illinois. While Tanner Foust and Cabot Bigham endured issues in the second round, Foust was on the podium in Round Three. He has earned enough points in the qualifying races over the weekend to sit in second spot in the provisional standings, just behind former team-mate Scott Speed, who now drives for Subaru.
Round Three on Sunday was a much better result for the Andretti Rallycross team, with Foust taking third place after starting from the third spot. Foust had placed second in his Semi-Final, showing that the Beetle still has good pace, even against the revised Subarus driven by Scott Speed, Patrik Sandell and Chris Atkinson.
'Nice to smell champagne after one of the hardest weekends I have ever had in Rallycross racing in the past 10 years, period. Yesterday's battle ended with no points in the Final but enough wins in qualifying to stay in the championship fight. Today, the (tire) puncture and a few dramatic events made for a different starting position in the Final. After a hard fight for six laps, finishing third was still a good result for the team who are working in nearly 100 degree heat and high humidity to keep the car in one piece. Gutted for Cabot (Bigham), who was a victim of a strange format rule of the series and wasn't able to compete in the final but he collected points in qualifying. A tough weekend overall but nice to walk away with a podium finish.'
Teammate Cabot Bigham had a more challenging weekend. In Round Three, he showed promising speed all day long and was poised to advance to his first Final. Facing a tough lineup in Semi-Final Race 1, Bigham was holding the third spot before ultimately finishing fourth.
'I'm absolutely gutted to not start the final again. Missing three finals is nothing that I would have ever imagined coming into this season with such a good team. All the guys and girls have been working so hard to keep my spirits high to keep me working and get faster. I feel we are improving every single time we go out, so that's definitely something to look forward to. I have my eyes set on the next round at Trois-Rivieres. I think it's a great track for our car, a lot of asphalt and I know our cars can be very quick there right out the gate.'
Coverage of the ARX at Gateway round will air on CBS Sports Wednesday, July 17 at 8:00 PM (ET).
Photo credit: Volkswagen
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In the second round on Saturday, Foust was among the fastest cars on track, but suffered contact from Subarus in the Final and ended up sixth. Cabot Bigham showed good speed in the morning but got eased out in the Semi-Final and failed to make the cut for the Final.
The second season of ARX racing continues August 3-4th at Trois Rivieres in Canada. The Andretti Rallycross drivers currently sit second and seventh in the provisional championship standings.
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