Tanner Foust (Saturday, Round 2) and Sebastian Eriksson (Sunday, Round 3) have split the wins in the Supercars finals in the Red Bull Global Rallycross doubleheader in Daytona.
ROUND 2
Foust, in the No. 34 Rockstar Energy Volkswagen Beetle for Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross, fought through missing heat races and a mechanical to survive in the final itself on Saturday.
Foust took the lead on Saturday after a collision between Round 1 winner Ken Block and Patrik Sandell, the two front row starters. Austin Dyne of Bryan Herta Rallysport and Eriksson of Olsbergs MSE finished second and third.
“Once I came into the second corner of the first lap, there was mayhem and a few crashes around us,” Foust said post-race.
“A couple of cars in front of me collided and I ended up just sneaking through, I literally just went to the open track and drove away. There was a little bit of damage to the Rockstar Energy Drink Beetle, but it’s strong and it held together for the win. It’s awesome for the whole Volkswagen Andretti team after such a hectic day.”
But in Foust’s semifinal on Sunday, the crew had to work to repair the car once more. The right front suspension appeared to collapse following contact between Foust and Eriksson in the seminal.
“I was trying to give Eriksson room, he led into the first corner, and we both needed a clean lap so they couldn’t catch up on the second lap,” Foust told NBC’s Kristen Kenney. “He went so tight on the hairpin… I didn’t want to be that close to him. I clipped him on the inside. I think we broke the control arm.”
Despite the contact, Foust made it into the final after all after finishing second in the last chance qualifier.
ROUND 3
Eriksson was able to get a launch from the start of Sunday’s Round 3, while the action was occurring behind him.
Nelson Piquet Jr. made a great launch from 10th up to fourth, while Sandell pulled off on the first lap; meanwhile Jeff Ward collected Scott Speed a little later in the race.
Eriksson led from Round 1 winner Ken Block up front, while the battle was firmly for third and the final podium position.
Joni Wiman, Eriksson’s OMSE teammate, briefly held the spot with two laps to go before he contacted the concrete barrier with two laps to go, as he was engaged in a battle with Foust and Steve Arpin for the final podium position.
Arpin then fell back and into the clutches of Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Ward, in his weekend debut in Red Bull GRC, before contact occurred between the two on the final lap. Ward was dropped a position post-race, per the series, for rough driving.
It mattered not to Eriksson, who completed a double podium on the weekend, made it an OMSE Sunday sweep with Austin Cindric winning again in GRC Lites, and moved into the points lead.
“It has been a good day all day,” Eriksson told Kenney. “Had a great start in the finals. Took it safe in the first lap. After that I drove my own race and that was enough. Still nine races to go, but it’s good to be a few points ahead more than a few points down.”
Block finished second ahead of Arpin, with Ward dropped to fourth and Foust fifth.
“Man it was awesome to have [Ward] out here. I really enjoyed it,” Block told Kenney. “That final was nuts. I was getting knocked all around. It was fun. Congrats to Eriksson. It was a battle.”
Despite losing the position, Ward enjoyed his maiden weekend in Red Bull GRC.
“I just came here to learn. I knew with 360fly and Chip Ganassi Racing we’d have a quality car,” Ward told Kenney.” I knew I could drive, but I just knew I had to not make mistakes. Super cool to run with Scott, Ken and Tanner Foust.”
Red Bull GRC is off until Sunday, July 5, for a race at MCAS New River. It will air live at 5 p.m. ET on NBC.
(Editor’s note: This story on the Heart of Racing sports cars shootout for women is one in an occasional Motorsports Talk series focusing on women in racing during March, which is Women’s History Month.)
Heart of Racing driver and team manager Ian James says his daughter, Gabby, isn’t so interested in auto racing. But she is interested (as a New York-based journalist) in writing about the sport’s efforts and growth in gender equality
It’s a topic that also was brought up by James’ wife, Kim.
“They’re always saying, ‘Hey, you manage all these guys, and you help them, so why not a woman?’ ” Ian James told NBC Sports. “And I feel like there are a lot of women that haven’t had a fair crack at it in sports car racing.
“Our whole DNA at Heart of Racing is we give people opportunities in all types of situations where there’s been crew personnel or drivers. And I felt like we hadn’t really addressed the female driver situation. I felt like there was a void to give somebody a chance to really prove themselves.”
During the offseason, the team took a major step toward remedying that.
Hannah Grisham at the Heart of Racing shootout (Mike Levitt/LAT)
Heart of Racing held its first female driver shootout last November at the APEX Motor Club in Phoenix, Arizona, to select two women who will co-drive an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the SRO SprintX Championship.
The season will begin this weekend at Sonoma Raceway with Hannah Grisham and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt behind the wheel. The team also picked a third driver, 17-year-old Annie Rhule, for a 2023 testing program.
The Phoenix audition included 10 finalists who were selected from 130 applicants to the program, which has been fully underwritten by Heart of Racing’s sponsors.
“We didn’t want it to be someone who just comes from a socio-economic background that could afford to do it on their own course,” James said. “We can pick on pure talent. We’re committed to three years to do this and see if we can find the right person. I’m very hopeful.”
So is Grisham, a Southern California native who has been racing since she was 6 in go-karts and since has won championships in Mazda and Miata ladder series. She has several victories in the World Racing League GP2 (an amateur sports car endurance series). The last two years, Grisham has worked as a test driver for the Pirelli tire company (she lives near Pirelli’s U.S. headquarters in Rome, Georgia, and tests about 30 times a year).
Starting with the Sonoma during SprintX event weekends (which feature races Saturday and Sunday), she will split the Heart of Racing car with O’Meara-Hunt (a New Zealand native she got to know at the shootout).
“It’s huge; the biggest opportunity I’ve had in this sport,” Grisham, 23, told NBC Sports. “Now it’s up to me to perform how I know I can. But I’m super lucky to be with such an amazing team and have a good teammate. The Heart of Racing has a family vibe and energy to it that’s really amazing. It’s super exciting. It’s hard to put into words.”
Grisham is hopeful that a strong performance eventually could lead to a full-time ride with Heart of Racing. The team has full-time entries in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and won the GTD category of the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona with the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 piloted by James, Darren Turner, Roman DeAngelis and Marco Sorensen.
James said “there’s no guarantee” of placement in an IMSA entry for Grisham and O’Meara-Hunt, but “if they prove themselves, we’ll continue to help them throughout their career and our team. The GT3 program is an obvious home for that. If they get the opportunity and don’t quite make it, we’ll be looking for the next two. The next three years, we’ll cycle through drivers until we find the right one.”
Grisham described the two-day shootout as a friendly but intense environment. After a day of getting acclimated to their cars, drivers qualified on new tires the second day and then did two 25-minute stints to simulate a race.
Hannah Grisham reviews data with Heart of Racing sports car driver Gray Newell during the team’s shootout last November (Mike Levitt/LAT).
“Everyone was super nice,” she said. “Once everyone gets in the car, it’s a different level. A different switch gets turned on. Everyone was super nice; everyone was quick. I feel we had an adequate amount of seat time, which is definitely helpful.
“It’s always cool to meet more women in the sport because there’s not too many of us, even though there’s more and more. It’s always cool to meet really talented women, especially there were so many from all over the world.”
IMSA has celebrated female champions and race winners, notably Katherine Legge (who is running GTD full time this season with Sheena Monk for Gradient Racing). The field at Sebring and Daytona also included the Iron Dames Lamborghini (a female-dominated team).
The Heart of Racing’s female driver shootout drew interested candidates from around the world (Mike Levitt/LAT).
James believes “a breakout female driver will be competing with the best of them” in the next five years as gender barriers slowly recede in motorsports.
“It’s been a male-dominated sport,” James said. “It’s still a very minute number of women drivers compared to the guys. I’m sure back in the day there were physical hurdles about it that were judged. But now the cars are not very physical to drive, and it’s more about technique and mental strength and stuff like that, and there’s no reason a girl shouldn’t do just as well as a guy. What we’re just trying to achieve is that there isn’t an obvious barrier to saying ‘Hey, I can’t hire a guy or a girl.’ We just want to put girls in front of people and our own program that are legitimate choices going forward for people.”
“There’s been some really good female drivers, but a lot of them just haven’t been able to sustain it, and a lot of that comes from sponsorship. I think (with the shootout), there’s no pressure of raising money and worrying about crash damage. We’ve taken care of all that so they can really focus on the job at hand.”
Funding always has been a hurdle for Grisham, who caught the racing bug from her father, Tom, an off-road driver who raced the Baja 1000 several times.
“I don’t come from a lot of money by any means,” she said. “So since a young age, I’ve always had to find sponsorships and get people to help me, whether it was buying tires, paying for entry fees, paying for the shipment of a car to an actual race. Literally knocking on the doors of people or businesses in my town.
“So yeah, it’s definitely something I’ve always struggled with and held me back because the sport revolves so much around money. So again to get this opportunity is insane.”
Rianna O’Meara-Hunt was one of two women selected by the Heart of Racing to drive in the SRO SprintX Championship this year (Mike Levitt/LAT).
Grisham credits racing pioneer Lyn St. James (an Indy 500 veteran and sports car champion) as a role model who has helped propel her career. She was hooked by the sights, smells and sounds of racing but also its competitive fire.
“There’s a zone you get in, that subconscious state of mind when you’re driving. It’s like addictive almost. I love it. Also I’m just a very competitive person as I think most race car drivers are.
“For sure I want to stay with the Heart of Racing. Obviously, I’m still getting to know everyone, but it’s a super family vibe. That’s how I grew up in the sport with just my dad and I wrenching on the cars. That’s what I love about this sport is all the amazing people you meet. And I think this is one of the most promising teams in this country. For sure, I want to learn as much as I can from them and hopefully continue. I feel so lucky and grateful to be one of those chosen.”
