Tanner Foust and Toyo Tires® Win Second Consecutive Formula DRIFT® Championship

October 13, 2008

Tanner Foust and Toyo Tires® Win Second Consecutive Formula DRIFT® Championship 

IRWINDALE, CALIFORNIA – Tanner Foust, driving his Rockstar/AEM/Toyo Tires® Nissan 350Z from Papadakis Racing, won his second consecutive Formula DRIFT® championship this Saturday at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale in Southern California while competing on Toyo® Proxes® R1R™ extreme performance tires.  Foust is the first-ever back-to-back champion in the histo. ry of Formula DRIFT, and it represents the first back-to-back Formula DRIFT championship for Toyo Tires

As reigning Champion, Foust continued his dominance on Proxes R1R tires right from the start with a third place finish during the season-opener at Long Beach.  He then won Round 3 in Englishtown, New Jersey, followed by a win in Round 6 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California.  In the final race at the “House of Drift” at Irwindale, Foust clinched the championship during the Great 8 round, and then put an exclamation point on his championship by finishing second for the event.

 

“We found the right combination again this year to defend the FD Championship,” said Foust.  “This year we had all the right components on the Z to keep it competitive; our Toyo tires were the best skins on the track, our AEM engine was the most reliable on the track and with Rockstar Energy Drink pumping through our veins we relentlessly chased down our goals.  The whole team is stoked to make FD history and go back to back on top!”

“This is an incredible back-to-back championship for Team Toyo and the Proxes R1R extreme performance tire,” said Stan Chen, manager of events and motorsports, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp.  “We congratulate Tanner Foust and Papadakis Racing on winning this historic second consecutive Formula DRIFT championship.” 

Toyo’s Proxes R1R has logged impressive pro championships including the 2007 and 2008 Formula Drift and 2007 D1 GP championships.  It has won time attack events and in the street touring class of the SCCA Solo National Tour, including the 2008 Street Touring S class championship at the 2008 SCCA Solo National Championships.

 

To learn more about Toyo’s Proxes® line of performance tires, and to learn more about Team Toyo® Drift drivers such as Formula DRIFT champion, Tanner Foust, log on to toyo.com.  Toyo manufactures and distributes a complete line of replacement tires for high performance cars, luxury vehicles, light trucks and SUVs as well as tires for commercial trucks, buses and off-road and construction applications