Red Bull GRC Media Alert // Race Recaps: MCAS New River (Saturday)
Red Bull GRC Race Recap: MCAS New River (Saturday) FOR SATURDAY PRESS IMAGES: <https://www.redbullcontentpool.com/redbullglobalrallycross/AP-1N51XHEFH2111> Click here<https://www.redbullcontentpool.com/redbullglobalrallycross/AP-1N51Y74U52111> IN BRIEF: Brian Deegan nearly ended a five-year Supercar main event victory drought, only to be passed on the final lap by defending Supercar champion Scott Speed during Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross action at Marine Corps Air Station New River. The victory was Speed’s first of the season for Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross. Sunday’s Round 7 was suspended due to severe weather for the safety of drivers and fans. HEAT RECAPS: Tanner Foust continued his perfect streak of heats and semifinals, winning all three to tie the single-season record with 16 victories in preliminary rounds. In the opposite sessions, Patrik Sandell won in the first round before a major incident in round two; Sebastian Eriksson delivered Honda its first Red Bull GRC heat win in that round, before Steve Arpin took a victory in the semifinal. MAIN EVENT RECAP: Heavy rain and lightning forced drivers onto their rain compound BFGoodrich Tires before the Supercar final. Foust and Speed set out into the first two spots on lap one, but Brian Deegan began carving his way through the field by heading to the outside of the sloppy and slippery dirt section. He worked his way into second place, inheriting the lead about halfway through the final when Foust pulled off with a mechanical failure. As other drivers struggled to find traction and visibility on the course, Deegan pressed forward without his turbocharger, limiting his horsepower. Behind him, Speed clawed back to second, having already taken the longer Joker Lap in the race. Deegan finally took the Joker on the last lap, enabling Speed to squeeze by and take the victory. UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: The results from Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross MCAS New River, the sixth round of the 2016 Red Bull GRC season: 1. Scott Speed, #41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle 2. Brian Deegan, #38 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST 3. Steve Arpin, #00 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST 4. Patrik Sandell, #18 Bryan Herta Rallysport Ford Fiesta ST 5. Austin Dyne, #14 AD Racing Ford Fiesta ST 6. Sebastian Eriksson, #93 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE Civic Coupe 7. Joni Wiman, #31 Honda Red Bull Olsbergs MSE Civic Coupe 8. Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle 9. Jeff Ward, #07 SH Rallycross/DRR Ford Fiesta ST 10. Bucky Lasek, #81 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI 11. Sverre Isachsen, #11 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI QUOTES: A selection of quotes from Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross MCAS New River, the sixth round of the 2016 Red Bull GRC season: Scott Speed, #41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle: “This is the beautiful thing about rallycross. This is why the sport is so popular and we all believe in this and so far this weekend it worked out for us. At the start I was so surprised to come out of the first corner in second. I went around the track and then saw Deegan come flying around the outside of me—I’m like, what in the world is this? He figured it out before everybody that the grip was out there, and then we had a heck of a race to the finish. I used my Joker and closed the gap and capitalized on the last lap. It was a great race, and I’m so happy that the fans stayed after the thunderstorm. I really appreciate that win because it was one heck of a show.” Brian Deegan, #38 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST: “First of all, thanks to all of the military that supports us. It gives us the freedom to go race these cars—much respect for that. That’s racing and that’s the way it goes. On the first turn, the Hondas hit the brakes, I ran into the back of them, that tore my boot off and I had no turbo the entire race. It’s kind of like racing with a Fiesta that’s stock! I don’t know how I even stayed where I did. In the end, that’s racing. Congrats to Speed for taking the win, and thanks to Chip Ganassi Racing, all my crew, my spotter, and everyone who supports me. This is by far the biggest, baddest race of the whole year, around the coolest tanks and aircraft. Much respect and thank you!” Steve Arpin, #00 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST: “On behalf of myself and all the drivers, this is by far the best race for all of us. To be able to be here and race with you guys, and just to give a tiny bit back for everything you do for us, it’s humbling to say the least. So thank you. All these guys at Chip Ganassi Racing worked their butts off until 2:00 in the morning because I blew up the motor. It’s so amazing what goes on behind the scenes and having these guys do what they do. So thank you to all of you guys, all of our sponsors, and Deegan. I thought he was going to have it—I had the best seat in the house at the Joker, but it was close at the end.” FAST FACTS: A collection of facts from Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross MCAS New River, the sixth round of the 2016 Red Bull GRC season: · Scott Speed earned the eighth victory of his Red Bull GRC career on Saturday at MCAS New River. It was Speed’s first victory of the season, and came at a course where he failed to make the final last year. He also became the first driver in 2016 to win a race in which he also had to advance through the last chance qualifier. · Brian Deegan earned his second podium of the 2016 season, and the 13th of his Red Bull GRC career, with his second place finish on Saturday. Deegan and Tanner Foust are the only drivers to earn podium finishes in every Red Bull GRC season. · Steve Arpin’s third place finish represented his third podium of the 2016 season and the fifth of his Supercar career. · Austin Dyne earned his best finish of the 2016 season so far by placing fifth. · Sebastian Eriksson gave Honda its first-ever Red Bull GRC heat victory by winning Heat 2A on Saturday. It was the fifth heat win of Eriksson’s Supercar career. UNOFFICIAL DRIVER POINTS: Points accurate to completion of Saturday’s Round 6. 1. Tanner Foust, 295 2. Steve Arpin, 286 3. Scott Speed, 279 4. Brian Deegan, 248 5. Patrik Sandell, 243 6. Sebastian Eriksson, 214 7. Joni Wiman, 193 8. Jeff Ward, 134 9. Austin Dyne, 123 10. Rhys Millen, 96 11. Bucky Lasek, 11 12. Sverre Isachsen, 4 13. Sebastian Saavedra, 3 UNOFFICIAL MANUFACTURER POINTS: Points accurate to completion of Saturday’s Round 6. 1. Volkswagen, 27 2. Ford, 24 3. Honda, 21 ———— GRC Lites Race Recap: MCAS New River (Saturday) IN BRIEF: Miki Weckstrom reclaimed the top spot on the GRC Lites podium during Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross action at Marine Corps Air Station New River, posting his second victory of the season for Olsbergs MSE X Forces. Sunday’s Round 7 was suspended due to severe weather for the safety of drivers and fans. HEAT RECAPS: While DirtFish Motorsports’ Conner Martell earned the Lites pole on Friday, fellow championship front-runners Oliver Eriksson and Cabot Bigham dominated their respective heats on Saturday. Both drivers won each of their two heats to start the main event from the front row. AF Racing Team’s Alejandro Fernandez won the last chance qualifier. MAIN EVENT RECAP: Eriksson’s bid for his third victory of the season ended before it could truly start on Saturday, as his car was wheeled off the starting grid before the final began with an electrical failure. That opened the door for teammate Weckstrom, who shot to the lead at the start of the main event and began to open a gap on Blake “Bilko” Williams. After reaching the halfway point of the race, severe weather forced a red flag with Weckstrom, Williams, and Parker Chase in the three podium spots. The race was later declared complete, returning Weckstrom to first place for the first time since Phoenix and giving Williams and Chase their first-ever Lites podiums. UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: The results from Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross MCAS New River, the sixth round of the 2016 GRC Lites season: 1. Miki Weckstrom, #45 Olsbergs MSE X Forces 2. Blake “Bilko” Williams, #22 Rhys Millen Racing 3. Parker Chase, #19 PMG RallySport 4. Cabot Bigham, #2 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 5. Harry Gottsacker, #69 PMG RallySport 6. Alejandro Fernandez, #126 AF Racing Team 7. Collete Davis, #07 River Racing/Rhys Millen Racing 8. Conner Martell, #21 DirtFish Motorsports 9. Alex Keyes, #24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 10. Oliver Eriksson, #16 Olsbergs MSE X Forces 11. Christian Brooks, #44 AF Racing Team 12. Cole Keatts, #53 Olsbergs MSE X Forces 13. Travis PeCoy, #3 AF Racing Team QUOTES: A selection of quotes from Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross MCAS New River, the sixth round of the 2016 GRC Lites season: Miki Weckstrom, #45 Olsbergs MSE X Forces: “I am extremely happy to be back up here again. Just to be able to be here and race until the end. I was pretty confused for a while, thinking what is going to happen—was I going to win or what was going on? However, I am very happy that it ended like this.” Blake “Bilko” Williams, #22 Rhys Millen Racing: “It’s been a long journey. Last year I came out and watched this race and decided I wanted to get into GRC. Here we are a year later on the podium. Starting with that, it’s been a lot of work, but I feel like in the first five races I’ve done I’ve had a lot of bad luck and using a little bit of good luck. Thanks everyone at GRC for putting on a good event, and everyone for coming out, all the fans. Happy 4th of July weekend.” Parker Chase, #19 PMG RallySport: “We started dead last in the final, but everything just kind of went our way. We worked really hard to get the car fixed after the last chance qualifier—it had a little damage. I think the car looks good right now. I know we don’t have much to do. From here we are going to try to move up a bit and see what we can do.” FAST FACTS: A collection of facts from Saturday’s Red Bull Global Rallycross MCAS New River, the sixth round of the 2016 GRC Lites season: · Miki Weckstrom earned the second victory and fourth podium finish of his GRC Lites career on Saturday at MCAS New River. Weckstrom now leads all Lites drivers in podium finishes in the 2016 season. · Blake “Bilko” Williams took the first podium of his Lites career by finishing second. The result came in his sixth career start. · Parker Chase’s third place finish was also the first podium of his Lites career, and came in his fourth career Lites start. · Cabot Bigham’s fourth place finish and two heat victories were good enough to return him to the points lead over Oliver Eriksson. The heat wins were the first and second of Bigham’s Lites career. · Harry Gottsacker equaled a season- and career-best result by placing fifth on Saturday. · Christian Brooks’ streak of five consecutive Lites main event appearances was snapped with a fifth place finish in the last chance qualifier. · Only four drivers have made it to all six Lites main events this year: Weckstrom, Bigham, Eriksson, and Conner Martell. In addition, five drivers with limited programs have made the main event in every Lites round that they have started: Tanner Whitten, Alex Keyes, Colin Braun, Trenton Estep, and Preston Murray. UNOFFICIAL DRIVER POINTS: Points accurate to completion of Saturday’s Round 6. 1. Cabot Bigham, 247 2. Oliver Eriksson, 233 3. Miki Weckstrom, 232 4. Conner Martell, 225 5. Christian Brooks, 167 6. Tanner Whitten, 165 7. Alejandro Fernandez, 110 8. Collete Davis, 94 9. Alex Keyes, 85 10. Parker Chase, 85 11. Harry Gottsacker, 85 12. Travis PeCoy, 83 13. Colin Braun, 59 14. Trenton Estep, 57 15. Blake “Bilko” Williams, 55 16. Preston Murray, 33 17. Jon Bennett, 14 18. Cole Keatts, 12 19. Nur Ali, 3 ———— If you do not wish to receive further correspondence on this email list, please contact cleone@redbullglobalrallycross.com<mailto:cleone@redbullglobalrallycross.com>. 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