Back-to-Back FD Champion : Tanner Foust!

Formula D's Round 7 "Final Fight" at Irwindale Speedway was a pressure-cooker event for the Rockstar Energy Drink AEM Racing Drift Team. Heading into the season finale coming off of his win at the previous Formula Drift round in Sonoma with a 26-point lead heading, the championship still wasn't completely in the bag. Prior championship winners, Sam Hubinette and Rhys Millen could still overtake Foust's points lead. But with the heat on high, Foust took his Rockstar Energy Drink AEM Racing Nissan 350Z to a second place podium finish, which was more than enough to make history as the first Formula Drift racer to clinch two back-to-back championships.

It was an eventful day of racing for both Foust and his closest competitors for the championship. Foust started the day of qualifying for the Final 16 in second place behind Rhys Millen. Foust defeated Mitsuru Haruguchi in the first round, a welcome victory as Haruguchi had beaten Foust out of first place at the Formula Drift season opener in Long Beach. Rhys Millen was defeated in his first round so now out of contention for the championship.

Foust drew Ryan Tuerk for the second round of head to head battle. It was a close race but Foust moved up. It was at this point of the night that Foust became the 2008 Formula Drift Champion, when Sam Hubinette spun his Viper during his own second heat. With the championship locked, Foust was pumped to go for the event win. The semi-final with Sean Pawlak was a nail biter with a "one more time" being called and Tanner ripping his rear bumper clean off after tapping the wall at high speed. But Foust prevailed to move on to the final.

Foust's match up for the final was Vaughn Gittin Jr. in his monstrous Falken Tire Mustang. Foust's crew showed their championship form putting his car back together for the final. Unfortunately, the rest of the night didn't go Tanner's way. Gittin was on top form and he clinched his first ever Formula Drift victory on the high speed banks of Irwindale with a blistering run. Second place on the podium for the final event and a back-to-back championship was a great way to finish the season though for Foust.

On his championship victory, Foust said, "I want to thank Rockstar for putting the drive in our veins all season, and AEM for having such reliable products and incredible support. I think the cat is out of the bag that our secret weapons are our AEM products on the cars and the power and reliability they provide...Toyo for making sure we had the best rubber on the corners all season and for the amazing track support, Motegi for making sure we had high-strength, lightweight wheels to wrap the Toyos around, Tokico and SPC for delivering premium suspension parts for our racecars that anyone can buy, and made the adjustments we needed to make so easy and vehicle response so predictable...Garrett for helping us make big power with the most reliable turbochargers in the World, ACT for making clutch systems that hold the power-we never, ever, worried about our clutch...basically, I want to say THANK YOU to our partners! You guys provide the products and support that allows us to go compete at the highest level and stay on top, and these championships are testament to that."