Tanner Foust (born June 13, 1973) is an American professional racing driver, stunt driver, and television host. He competes in

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

drift Drift or Drifts may refer to: Geography * Drift or ford (crossing) of a river * Drift, Kentucky, unincorporated community in the United States * In Cornwall, England: ** Drift, Cornwall, village ** Drift Reservoir, associated with the village ...

ice racing Ice racing is a form of racing that uses cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, or other motorized vehicles. Ice racing takes place on frozen lakes or rivers, or on groomed frozen lots. As cold weather is a requirement for natural ...

time attack Time attack is a type of motorsport in which the racers compete for the best lap time. Each vehicle is timed through numerous circuits of the track. The racers make a preliminary circuit, then run the timed laps, and then finish with a cool-dow ...

hill climb Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the fir ...

and rallycross with multiple podium placements, national championships, and world records. He was a co-host of the American version of the

motoring Motoring may refer to: * ''Motoring'' (film), a 1927 British comedy film * Motoring (TV series), a Canadian automotive television program (1988 to present) * 310 Motoring, an automotive customization garage based in Los Angeles, California * Mot ...

television series ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...

''.

Background

Growing up in a naval family, Foust spent several years as a child in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, where he discovered rallying and learned to drive on the country roads near his home. He returned to the United States and worked jobs as a golf caddy and school bus driver, from which he was fired, and went into a pre-med track at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

, earning a biology degree. He spent his summers at the track, trading mechanic work and driver coaching jobs for seat time in racecars. After college, he began working as an ice driving coach, an instructor at automotive marketing events and competing in anything he could, including rally and drifting. He made the transition to professional racing in 2003, and soon moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to begin stunt driving for

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

films. With his passion for cars, he has rapidly become one of the busiest professional drivers in the United States. He considers himself fortunate that, in just over ten years of professional racing, he has had the opportunity to compete against the likes of

Rod Millen Rodney K. "Rod" Millen (born 22 March 1951) is a New Zealand racing driver, vehicle designer, and business owner. He has competed in numerous genres of motorsports, including rally racing, off-road racing, hillclimbing, drifting, and super touri ...

Colin McRae Colin Steele McRae, (5 August 1968 – 15 September 2007) was a Scottish rally driver. He was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion, and in 1995 became the first British driver and the youngest person to win the World Rally Championship ...

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super GT ...

and

Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2022 for BMW Sauber, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing, Red Bull, Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari, and Aston Martin in Formula One ...

Career

He was slated to become co-host for the original American version of the

television series, ''

'', on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

and filmed a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

before the series was dropped. The series has since been picked up by the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

and Foust was the only pilot presenter to be picked up when the program finally made it on air in the U.S. in late 2010. He has also hosted other shows including

SPEED Channel Speed was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as aut ...

's '' SuperCars Exposed'', SPEED Channel's '' Redline TV'' and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

's ''Import Tuners''. On November 21, 2010, he made his debut for the History Channel series, ''Top Gear'', the American version of the BBC hit series of the same name. Foust has been a stunt driver for films such as '' The Fast and the Furious Tokyo Drift'', '' Ford vs Ferrari'', ''

Need For Speed ''Need for Speed'' (''NFS'') is a racing game franchise published by Electronic Arts and currently developed by Criterion Games, the developers of ''Burnout''. The series generally centers around illicit street racing and tasks players to com ...

'' and ''

The Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy TV series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television series ...

'' and set multiple world records with

Hot Wheels Hot Wheels is an American brand of scale model cars introduced by American toymaker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1997, when Mattel bought Tyco Toys, then owner of Matchbox. Many automobile manufacturers have ...

and ''

''. He was a prominent competitor in the

Formula Drift Formula Drift (also known as Formula D) is a United States-based motorsport drifting series. Formula Drift, Inc. was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that int ...

series, winning the 2007 and 2008 championship. Foust is the first driver in Formula Drift history to win back-to-back series championships. He is the most decorated driver in

X Games The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, ...

history with 9 medals. Foust first competed in

X Games XIII X Games XIII (13) took place from August 2–5, 2007 in Los Angeles, California at the Staples Center and the Home Depot Center. It was broadcast on the ESPN networks, EXPN.com, and ABC. Events included: *Motocross (Racing, Step Up, Supermoto, F ...

in 2007 where he won the gold in the rally racing event. He also participated in

Rally America The Rally America National Championship was the national championship of rallying events in the United States. The inaugural season was in 2005. Rally America was also the name given to the organization that sanctioned the championship, was brie ...

in 2009. In 2010 at

X Games XVI X Games XVI was an action sporting event which took place from July 29 – August 1, 2010 in Los Angeles, California at the Staples Center, L.A. Live and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The games featured the sports of Motocross, skateboarding ...

he won gold in Rally Car Racing and Rally Car Super Rally, driving the

Rockstar Energy Rockstar (stylized as ROCKST★R or ЯR) is an energy drink created in 2001, which, , has a 0.3% market share of the US non-alcoholic beverage market. Rockstar is based in Purchase, New York. , Rockstar Energy Drink was available in more than 2 ...

Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...

. He also competed in the European Rallycross Championship, becoming the first American to do so. After leaving the drifting scene in favor of RallyCross in 2011, Foust became a regular ERC competitor, taking part in 9 of the 10 rounds of the

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

recognized series finished second overall as well as

Global RallyCross The TitansRX International Series (formerly known as Red Bull Global Rallycross or Global Rallycross) is a group of rallycross series, currently organised by racing driver Max Pucher and businessman Chip Pankow. The initial series was series ru ...

- winning the championship. In 2012, Foust continued his success with another Global RallyCross championship. For 2013, Foust medaled in both racing events at X Games XIX Los Angeles with a gold in

Gymkhana Grid Gymkhana Grid is a gymkhana car race held annually in different venues around the world since 2010. It was co-founded by racecar driver Ken Block, clothing brand DC Shoes and promoter Chris Willard. However, the 2011 edition was cancelled af ...

and silver in RallyCross. These marked his eighth and ninth

medals. In Summer 2015 he started shooting the sixth and final season of ''Top Gear'' completing 72 episodes. At the

Chicago Auto Show The Chicago Auto Show is held annually in February at Chicago's McCormick Place convention center. It is the largest auto show in North America. History Samuel Miles, formerly a promoter of bicycle shows, produced the first "official" Chic ...

in February 2014, Foust announced a new partnership with

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

and

Andretti Autosport Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Indy Lights, Indy Pro 2000, and Formula E. The team also has a 37.5% ownership stake in the Australian Supercars Championship touring car team, Walkinshaw Andretti ...

. He drove a

Volkswagen New Beetle The Volkswagen New Beetle is a compact car, introduced by Volkswagen in 1997, drawing heavy inspiration from the exterior design of the original Beetle. Unlike the original Beetle, the New Beetle has its engine in the front, driving the fron ...

for the 2014 Global RallyCross Championship season as well as selected events with

Marklund Motorsport Marklund Motorsport, also competed under the title Volkswagen Marklund Motorsport, is an auto racing team. The team has been competing in rallycross since its creation, and has recently been backed by Volkswagen. For 2016 the team merged with K ...

in the inaugural season of the

FIA World Rallycross Championship The FIA World Rallycross Championship (official abbreviation is World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the FIA in conjunction with series promoter Rallycross Promoter GmbH (founded by Red Bull and KW25). From the inaugural season in 2014 ...

. He became the first, and so far only, driver from outside Europe to win a round of the championship, winning the 2014 World RX of Finland. As the US rallycross series has changed its name from Global Rallycross to America’s Rallycross and Nitro Rallycross, Foust has finished runner up in the championship 3 times and won the NRX championship in 2019. He holds the longest running streak of Heat victories in rallycross worldwide at 25 and is currently the winningest driver in the US. Foust signed with McLaren XE to race in the 2022 Extreme E season alongside

Emma Gilmour Emma Gilmour (born 30 September 1979) is a rally driver from New Zealand currently competing in Extreme E with McLaren XE. Early and personal life Gilmour was born in Dunedin in 1979. Her father and maternal grandfather were both mechanics. ...

. He and Gilmour won McLaren's first Extreme E podium by finishing second in the Energy X-Prix.

Achievements

; Rally America * 2005 Rally America - PGT Champion (Subaru WRX) * 2006 Rally America - PGT Class Championship Second place overall (Subaru WRX) * 2007 Rally America - Fourth Place (with 6 podium placements) ; X Games * 2006 X Games - Rally Third fastest time in the Stadium Super Special * 2007 X Games - Rally Gold Medalist (Subaru STI) * 2008 X Games - Rally Silver Medalist (Subaru STI) * 2009 X Games - Rally Bronze Medalist (Ford Fiesta) * 2010 X Games - Super Rally Gold Medalist (Ford Fiesta) * 2010 X Games - Rally Gold Medalist (Ford Fiesta) * 2011 X Games - RallyCross Silver Medal (Ford Fiesta) * 2013 X Games Munich - RallyCross Bronze Medalist Ford Fiesta) * 2013 X Games Los Angeles -

Gold Medalist (Ford Fiesta) * 2013 X Games Los Angeles - RallyCross Silver Medalist (Ford Fiesta) ; Rallycross championships *

2011 European Rallycross Championship The 2011 European Rallycross Championship was the thirty fifth season of the FIA European Championships for Rallycross Drivers. The season consisted of ten rounds and started on 24 April with the British round at Lydden Hill Race Circuit. The seas ...

- Silver Medalist (Ford Fiesta) * 2011

Global RallyCross Championship The TitansRX International Series (formerly known as Red Bull Global Rallycross or Global Rallycross) is a group of rallycross series, currently organised by racing driver Max Pucher and businessman Chip Pankow. The initial series was series ru ...

- Champion (Ford Fiesta) * 2012 Global RallyCross Championship - Champion (Ford Fiesta) * 2018 Americas Rallycross Championship - Silver Medalist (Volkswagen Beetle) *

2019 Americas Rallycross Championship The 2019 Americas Rallycross Championship was the second and final season of the Americas Rallycross Championship, a feeder championship to the FIA World Rallycross Championship representing North America. The season consists of six rounds across ...

- Champion (Volkswagen Beetle) ; Formula D * 2006 Formula Drift - 3rd place overall (Nissan Silvia) * 2007 Formula Drift - Champion (Nissan 350Z) * 2008 Formula Drift - Champion (Nissan 350Z) * 2009 Formula Drift - 6th Place (Scion TC) * 2010 Formula Drift - Silver Medalist (Scion TC) ; Other *

2009 Race of Champions The 2009 Race of Champions was the 22nd running of the event, and took place on November 3–4, 2009 at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, China. It was the first time that the event took place outside of Europe and Africa. It was also t ...

- Nations Cup semi-finalist * 2010

Gold Medalist AWD Division (Ford Fiesta) * 2011 World record for longest jump in a four-wheeled vehicle (332 feet) * 2011 World indoor speed record (until February 2013) * 2012 World record for largest loop-the-loop in a car (60 feet in diameter)

Racing record

Complete FIA European Rallycross Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

Division 1

Supercar

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results

(

)

Supercar

Complete Global RallyCross Championship results

(

)

AWD

Supercar

Complete Americas Rallycross Championship results

Complete Nitro Rallycross results

Complete Extreme E results

(

) ^* Season still in progress.

TV and film

* ''

'' (2005) stunt driver * ''

'' (2005–2007) as Himself * ''

Formula D Formula Drift (also known as Formula D) is a United States-based motorsport drifting series. Formula Drift, Inc. was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that int ...

'' (2005–2007) as Himself * '' Auto Access'' (2005–2007) Host * '' Import Racers'': "Bull Run" (2006) as Himself * ''

CSI: Miami ''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Dete ...

'': "Driven" (2006) stunt driver * '' Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006) stunt driver * ''

Master of Champions ''Master of Champions'' is a show which began airing June 22, 2006 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The show format was based on a Nippon Television (NTV) original series entitled ''World Records''. The show was reformatted and produced in t ...

'': "Premiere" (2006) Contestant * ''

RM Classic Car Auction RM Sotheby's, formerly RM Auctions, is a classic car auction company headquartered in Blenheim, Ontario, Blenheim, Ontario, Canada. With offices across the United States and several European countries, the company's services include Automotive res ...

'' (2007) Host * '' Redline TV'' (2007) Host * ''

Dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains * Dust: a genera ...

'': "Ita Missa Est" (2007) stunt double * '' The Bourne Ultimatum'' (2007) stunt performer * ''

Numb3rs ''Numbers'' (stylized as ''NUMB3RS'') is an American crime drama television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 23, 2005, to March 12, 2010, for six seasons and 118 episodes. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton ...

'': "Velocity" (2007) stunt driver * ''Top Gear'' (NBC) (2008) Host * '' Mad Skills: Rhys Millen Is the Kiwi Drifter'' (2008) as Himself * '' SuperCars Exposed'' (2008–2009) Host * ''

Fast & Furious ''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, a t ...

'' (2009) stunt double * ''Street Customs'': "GTO" (2009) as Himself * '' Battle of the Supercars'' (2010) as Himself * ''

Iron Man 2 ''Iron Man 2'' is a 2010 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it is the sequel to ''Iron Man (2008 film), Iron Man'' (2008) and List of Marve ...

'' (2010) stunt double * ''Top Gear'' (U.S.) (2010—2016) Host * '' Hot Wheels: Fearless at the 500'' (2011) as Himself * ''

Red Dawn ''Red Dawn'' is a 1984 American action drama film directed by John Milius with a screenplay by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. The film depicts a fictional World War III centering on a land invasion of the continental United States by an alliance o ...

'' (2012) stunt double * '' The Bourne Legacy'' (2012) stunt double * Octane Academy (2012) as Himself * Octane Academy (2013) as Himself * ''

Need for Speed ''Need for Speed'' (''NFS'') is a racing game franchise published by Electronic Arts and currently developed by Criterion Games, the developers of ''Burnout''. The series generally centers around illicit street racing and tasks players to com ...

'' (2014) stunt driver * '' Hitman: Agent 47'' (2015) hitman stunt driver * ''

Straight Outta Compton ''Straight Outta Compton'' is the debut studio album by rap group N.W.A, which, led by Eazy-E, formed in Los Angeles County's City of Compton in early 1987. Released by his label, Ruthless Records, on August 8, 1988, the album was produced b ...

'' (2015) Stunt Driver * ''

Ford v Ferrari ''Ford v Ferrari'' (titled ''Le Mans '66'' in some European countries) is a 2019 American sports drama film directed by James Mangold and written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller. It stars Matt Damon and Christian B ...

'' (2019)

Ronnie Bucknum Ronnie Bucknum (April 5, 1936 – April 23, 1992) was an American race car driver, born in Alhambra, California. Bucknum participated in 11 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on August 2, 1964. He scored a total of two champio ...

Notes

References

External links

*
Papadakis Racing Tanner Foust Bio

Rockstar Racing Tanner Foust Bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foust, Tanner 1973 births American rally drivers American stunt performers Andretti Autosport drivers Audi Sport TT Cup drivers D1 Grand Prix drivers Dreyer & Reinbold Racing drivers Drifting drivers European Rallycross Championship drivers Extreme E drivers Formula D drivers Global RallyCross Championship drivers Living people McLaren Racing drivers Racing drivers from Colorado Racing drivers from Denver World Rallycross Championship drivers X Games athletes