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 DAYTONA,
FL (January 6-9) -- Open tire testing was conducted
recently at Daytona in preparation for the Grand American sanctioning
body's biggest event of the year, the Rolex 24 at Daytona
International Speedway. All Rolex and Grand-Am Cup Series competitors
will, for the first time ever, be riding on one tire brand. The
Hoosier tire brand will be the exclusive tire used in all series
events through the 2007 racing season.
At the test session, there were 31
Daytona Prototype (DP) cars on hand and 27 Grand Touring (GT) cars,
all hoping to compete in the day-long Rolex Series race scheduled for
February 5-6. The 24-hour event, which will start at noon and conclude
24 hours later, will be broadcast on Speedvision but the final
schedule for the telecast had not yet been determined at the time of
this writing. In addition to the 58 Rolex cars, 31 Grand-Am Cup cars
were also in Daytona testing for the Daytona 200 race to be held on
February 4th.
The testing, which had over 20
purple-clad Hoosier staff members in attendance, was just a glimpse of
what is in store for the season-opening race. In all, Hoosier Product
Manager Mike Kraemer projects a 50+member team to service the needs of
the competitors during the 24-hour race.
Hoosier has been the sole provider of
tires to the Grand-Am Cup Series since its inception in 2001 and has
one year of Rolex competition under its belt (2004) when it supplied
tires to the SGS class. This background and Hoosier's product support
and professionalism undoubtedly played a huge role in the decision to
award the entire series tire contract to Hoosier.
Kraemer points out, "That was a
bold decision on the part of Roger Edmondson (President of the Grand
American Road Racing Association) and speaks volumes about Hoosier and
its staff."
In 2002, Edmondson toured Hoosier's
Indiana-based manufacturing facility. Last year at the press
conference announcing the historic multi-year deal, Edmondson
commented, "I am thoroughly pleased with Hoosier's quality and
procedures. And with the success we have had developing tires for the
Grand-Am Cup Series over the past few years, I know that Mike Kraemer
and the rest of the Hoosier engineering crew will be great partners as
we bring the Hoosier brand into the Rolex Series."
Some of the world's best racers will be
competing on Hoosier tires in the Rolex 24 race, including a few
Americans many of whom you may have heard: most notably Scott Pruett,
Jamie McMurray, Jimmie Johnson, Casey Mears, Tony Stewart, Terry
Labonte, Bobby Labonte, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Max Papis, Wally
Dallenbach and 79-year-old award winning actor Paul Newman.
Hoosier Track Service Manager for the
Grand American Series Tim Gilvin commented, "We could not be more
pleased to have this opportunity to present to the entire world the
technological advancements of our new Hoosier tire line . . ..
Ultimately though, when the race is over, we hope the best team
emerges the winner and that tires did not play a part in the
outcome." Gilvin concluded, "That's actually our goal
throughout the entire season."
To learn more about the Grand American
Road Racing Association, visit their website at www.grandamerican.com.
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