ARCA, Hoosier Extend Official Tire Program

Officials from ARCA and Hoosier Racing Tire Corporation jointly announced today in a media conference at Daytona Int’l Speedway that they have executed a contract extension that will position Hoosier as the Official Tire of the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards through the 2015 season.

 

The agreement provides for the continued exclusive use of Hoosier Racing Tires in the ARCA Racing Series for the 2013, 2014 and 2015 racing seasons and continues an established awards program and cost containment initiative for series teams. Hoosier has recently developed and introduced a short track radial tire and a road course wet radial tire to complement its long established superspeedway radial tire and dirt track bias tire programs in the series.

 

“Hoosier’s exclusive business is building quality tires for racers, and we have great confidence in extending the ARCA-Hoosier relationship through the 2015 season,” said ARCA President Ron Drager. “Hoosier’s commitment to engineering, development and production of tires constructed specifically for the demanding and diverse ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards venues-including paved short tracks, dirt tracks, road courses and superspeedways-continues to be proven each race weekend.”

 

The agreement extends Hoosier’s status as among the longest-standing participating manufacturer-sponsor relationships in the 61-year history of the sanctioning body. Hoosier has participated as a supplier for ARCA sanctioned racing events since 1985 and first became the Official Tire of the ARCA Racing Series in 1995. Hoosier co-founder Bob Newton began his association with ARCA founder John Marcum in 1953 when he competed as a racer in ARCA-sanctioned short track racing at Flat Rock Speedway.

 

“ARCA has played a key role in our strategic vision here at Hoosier,” said Hoosier Vice President of Sales & Marketing Dennis Sherman. “Our participation with ARCA has facilitated the expansion and development of our tires and service for the race teams over the years, and we look forward to more racing accomplishments as the Official Tire of ARCA in the future.”

 

Hoosier is a major series point fund contributor and the exclusive sponsor of the Hoosier Tire Superspeedway Challenge point fund, in addition to posting other prize money bonuses including a per-race and year-end winner’s bonus. Hoosier has also worked with ARCA to develop a maximum tire consumption rule for all venues and races on the tour as a cost containment measure.

 

The Hoosier extension has received considerable support from the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards competitor base.

 

“It’s great to see Hoosier coming back to provide our race tire through 2015,” said 9-time ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards champion Frank Kimmel, who has 74 career series victories. “We know how hard those guys in the purple shirts work, race in and race out, to consistently provide us with the best product they can put on the track. There’s a comfort level knowing that Hoosier and ARCA have made such a commitment to one another over the years, and that the common goal is a good, safe, fast race tire for all of us in the series to race on.”

 

Kimmel’s sentiments were echoed by ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards team owner Bill Venturini, whose Venturini Motorsports team fields as many as six cars for a given race and placed four full-time teams in the series top-10 in final 2012 point standings.

 

“As competitors, we utilize everything we have at our disposal to run faster than the other teams, including working the tire aggressively, and that presents challenges for Hoosier,” said Venturini, the ARCA Racing Series 1983 Rookie of the Year and 1987 & 1992 champion whose Venturini Motorsports team celebrated its 30thanniversary in the series in ’12. “With the fast pace of advancement in technology and race car speeds, plus track surface changes like the repaving we saw last season at Pocono, Kansas and Michigan, we think Hoosier works hard and does a good job of providing us with a safe product over the long haul.”

 

Veteran crew chief Paul Andrews has 12 victories and 30 pole qualifying awards to his credit in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with drivers Alan Kulwicki, Geoff Bodine, Steve Park, Jeremy Mayfield, Kenny Wallace, Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip and Kyle Petty. He currently serves as crew chief for team owner Kerry Scherer’s Cunningham Motorsports Dodge team.

 

“Across the board, Hoosier has been very solid in the tire they provide, especially when you consider everything we throw at them as far as different race track sizes and surfaces over the course of a season,” said Andrews, who has 8 ARCA Racing Series wins since 2010 and was the 1992 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion crew chief for driver/owner Kulwicki. “My experience with Hoosier, both when they were in NASCAR and here in the ARCA Racing Series, has been that they are great to work with and that they put out a good product. Hoosier and ARCA work with the teams to limit tire usage in the race, and the lesser funded teams aren’t required to purchase sticker tires, so that’s helpful to each respective team’s budget. I can see why this has been a good long term relationship between ARCA and Hoosier.”

 

ARCA Racing PR