Tanner Foust, stunt driver, rally champ, newly minted Top Gear USA TV show host, and (obviously) drift driver, won his 2nd straight Formula Drift championship in his twin-turbo 350Z. Using his Rockstar/AEM/Toyo Tires Nissan 350Z from Papadakis Racing (what a mouthful), Foust secured his 2008 title with a second place finish at the Irwindale Speedway season closer.
According to the Toyo Tires press release, "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.'"