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" Prior to this past weekend, Tanner Foust had won two rounds of the highly competitive FIA European Rallycross Championship (ERC) and was sitting in second place overall. Although he was leading the Global RallyCross Championship (GRC) in this country he had not yet won a race.  Foust had to miss the final round of the ERC in Germany as it clashed with the GRC round at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Since he had no chance of overtaking Timur Timerzyanov, the Russian driver who is the 2012 ERC champion, in points it was not such a disappointment. However, Liam Doran took the win in Germany, which meant Foust dropped to third in the 2012 ERC. I think this may be one of the better finishes for an American in any major worldwide FIA championship since Mario Andretti won the F1 championship in 1978. Historians, please feel free to correct me if I am wrong!  Foust&amp;#039;s fortunes in Las Vegas, the fifth and penultimate round of the 2012 GRC, could not have been better. He was fastest in qualifying. He then went on to easily win his heat, which did not take place until after 9 pm in the evening on Saturday after the finish of the NASCAR Camping World Truck race.  The final race got the green light at 11.30 pm and it was a mad dash to the first corner, which was a nicely banked dirt hairpin laid down after the trucks had been long gone. It was so much better than previous tracks in the CRG series as it allowed more than one car to get through. Tanner and Brian Deegan, both in Ford Fiestas, went through the corner side by side but it was Foust who had the inside line which enabled him to edge in front going past the start/finish line on the oval track&amp;#039;s front straight.  Behind them chaos ensued as several cars went off the dirt banking and a few body panels went flying. However all ten cars made it through. By the end of the fist lap Foust was still in front with Deegan on his tail ahead of Toomas Heikkinen, also in a Fiesta and a surprised Sverre Isachsen, in a Subaru STI, in fourth. Isachsen managed to get past Heikkinen to finish third, the first podium finish for a Subaru this year. Pastrana, who had earlier finished 15th in his debut in the truck race, had the worst luck as he had been running right behind the leaders but a blown turbocharger on his Dodge Dart meant he was a non-finisher.  Foust&amp;#039;s win puts him in a clear lead for the 2012 GRC championship and he also took home a $25,000 check for winning the Discount Tire Cup, which was given to the points leader for three of the six rounds. Overall it was a good event and several thousand spectators got to see plenty of action including one car again failing to make the giant jump, fortunately at a slow speed without causing any serious injury to the driver.  The final round of the 2012 Global Rally Cross Championship will also take place in Las Vegas on October 30, 2012 in a parking lot across from the Las Vegas Convention Center on the evening of the opening day for the 2012 SEMA Show. It should be another good show. Related posts:  Tanner Foust \u2013 First American to Win a European Rallycross Race European Rallycross \u2013 Rockstar Foust Defeats Monster Doran in UK Tanner Foust Tests the Ford Focus ST-R  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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