 Lakeville,
IN (January 23, 2006) -- January 7 and 8, 2006 open tire testing was conducted
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 second year in a row, 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 over
30 Daytona Prototype (DP) cars on hand, and over 40 Grand Touring (GT) cars.
More than 15 additional cars than last years practice, all hoping to compete in
the 24 hour-long Rolex Series race scheduled for January 28 – 29, 2006. 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 report. In addition to the Rolex cars, 56
Grand-Am Cup cars were also in Daytona testing for the 2006 Daytona Grand-Am
200 race to be held on January 27, 2006.
This year Hoosier is quite aware of
the immense amount of work involved in being the sole tire supplier for this
international endurance event, and we are making plans to deal with it. Our
staffing to service the 24 hour event has almost doubled from the previous year
and this should give us a chance to do the best possible job. There will be
more than 75 technicians and 14 engineers on hand to cover the race. The
service operation will be prepared and able to produce approximately 70 sets of
tires per hour during the race.
To give you some idea, the Rolex 24
Hour race is equivalent to 8 "normal" races in one day. Hoosier will
be providing over 175 tons of tires.
Hoosier has been the sole provider of
tires to the Grand-Am Cup Series since its inception in 2001 and has two years
of Rolex competition under its belt 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.
Mike Kraemer Hoosier Racing Tire
Product Manager 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. Shortly there after announcing the
historic multi-year Rolex / Hoosier Racing Tire 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."
This year once again, some of the
world's best racers will be competing on Hoosier tires in the Rolex 24 race,
including a few of whom you may have heard: most notably Scott Pruett, AJ
Allmendinger, Max Angelelli, Bill Auberlen, Wally Dallenbach Jr, Christian
Fittipaldi, Hurley Haywood, Bobby Labonte, Andy Lally, Butch Leitzinger, Max
Papis, Buddy Rice, Tony Stewart, Wayne Taylor, Andy Wallace, Rusty Wallace and
many many more.
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."
To learn more about the Grand American
Road Racing Association, visit their website at www.grandamerican.com
To learn more about Hoosier Racing
Tire, visit www.hoosiertire.com.
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