Rallycross is back in America, and the Beetle boys—Tanner Foust and Scott Speed—won’t have to travel far from VW's Tennessee home to start the season.

The Red Bull Global Rallycross series will be down the street from Chattanooga in Memphis on April 30 for the first round of the 2017 season.



Foust will be looking to get his season off to a perfect start as he seeks to take the drivers’ championship away from his teammate, Speed, who will defend his title jealously.

“I’m more confident than I was at this point last year, so I’m excited to get back on track and show what we can do,” said Speed. “I think the package that we’ve developed in the offseason is really strong and I’m eager to get used to some of the new race formats the series has implemented for the season.”

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The team will be back in their European-built Beetles GRC this season, but with some changes. Both drivers get a new livery this season, but Speed gets a new sponsor, Oberto Jerky. The changes are more than skin-deep, though. Although the Beetles are still making 560 hp, they’ve had their handling improved.

“We’ve done a lot of good work during the offseason through testing, so I think we’re in good shape for the start of the season,” said Foust. “It’s always amazing to see the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes, and I’m hoping to make sure that effort pays off for everyone with good results on track.”

The bewildering Beetle boys will have their work cut out for them this season, though. As back-to-back champions (Scott Speed led Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross to two team championships in a row) the rest of grid will have VW in their crosshairs.

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