Revving up for this year’s racing season, Toyo has renewed sponsorship agreements with several key veterans while issuing contracts to three additional drivers.
“We are excited to have our returning champions and to add new members to Team Toyo for 2010,” says Stan Chen, manager of events and motorsports.
“The 2010 season should be another fantastic year – highlighting the performance of our tires,” he adds, “ranging from the Open Country M/T-R to Proxes Drag Slicks and our Proxes extreme performance tires.”
New to Team Toyo for Solo competitions are Matthew Glagola from Atlanta and Robert and Michelle Seelig of Edmond, Okla.
Glagola won the 2009 STS Championship at the Solo Nationals while competing as an independent driver on Proxes R1R extreme performance tires. This year, he will be running in the new STR class driving a 2006 Honda S2000 in both the Solo National Tour and the ProSolo tour.
The Seeligs are both past champions in SCCA Solo/ProSolo.
In 2009, Toyo-sponsored pilots were champs in the SCORE, TORC, SCCA Solo and ProSolo, NHRA Sportsman and Redline Time Attack circuits.
Robby Gordon claimed the first-ever Overall SCORE (Southern California Off-Road Enthusiasts) Championship plus top honors in SCORE Trophy Truck.
Gordon continues to be a force for Toyo as he races in the Dakar Rally along with off-road and short course competitions.
Ron Whitton of G&R Racing won two races last year in SNORE (Southern Nevada Off-Road Enthusiasts) events, and was the first driver to win on the newly released 39-inch Open Country M/T-R tires. Whitton’s team will compete in a variety of SNORE and SCORE desert runs.
Returning for the 2010 season in short course off-road are Team LeDuc – father Curt, and sons Todd and Kyle – with their Ford F-150 Pro Truck program. The clan won 12 short course races last year in both the TORC and Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing series. Kyle LeDuc won the 2009 BorgWarner Cup and finished second overall in the Pro 4X4 class. Todd LeDuc won the BorgWarner World Championship for Pro 2WD trucks while finishing third overall in the Pro 2WD class championship.
Also returning for off-road action is Rick Deremo of Team Extreme Motorsports. Last year Deremo finished second overall at the XRRA (Xtreme Rock Racing Association) finals on the company’s M/T-R tires. He was also the first-ever driver to win in rock racing using an independent front suspension design car.
In drag racing, Gary Forkner returns for another year with his 2006 Pontiac GTO running on Proxes Drag Slicks. Last year he was the Pacific Division Top Sportsman class champion in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Toyo’s Thomas Bayer won the Pacific Division’s Super Comp title.
For Formula Drift, the company will again be represented by long-time Toyo racer Ken Gushi, in his Scion tC, and Rhys Millen, driving his RMR Hyundai Genesis Coupe.
Autocross racers returning this year include Ken Motonishi and Tim Smith, both racing Honda CRX Si’s equipped with Proxes R1R extreme performance tires in the ST class in SCCA Solo and ProSolo. Smith has claimed championships on Toyo tires in both categories. In 2009, Motonishi won every race he competed in throughout the western U.S.
For more information, visit www.toyotires.com.
