Toyo has signed up to be the control tyre for possibly the most tyre- and truck-destructive racing series in the world.
Enthusiastic and controversial six times US-Off-Road champion Robby Gordon is in the second year of running his Speed Energy Formula Off-Road Stadium Super Truck series, and he’s secured Toyo to provide tyre support. But instead of specifying pure bred racing tyres, Toyo has elected to supply the series with its off-the-shelf customer tyres.
Toyo has just released its new Open Country All-Terrain tyre in Australia with improved life added to its existing attributes of strength, durability, safety and ride comfort.
Japanese testing has found the new tyre adds more than 20 percent to the life expectancy of its construction compared to the previous generation.
Gordon’s Speed Energy Formula Off-Road series is unlikely to prove the point of high mileage, but it is a serious investment by Toyo in its faith in the brand.
The race series pits 600 horsepower vehicles at speeds up to 210kmh against each other over obstacles including seven metre high jumps.
While it’s called a stadium series many of its rounds will be held on tarmac road race courses as support events to other major series.
It will even be a major support race at the Indianapolis 500.
On road circuits special metre high jumps are positioned strategically around the track, promoting long-distance air time.
Tyre and suspension strength is a major factor in success. The stadium trucks are lighter than their off-road Trophy Truck counterparts but still tip the scales at better than 2000kg. The forces endured by components on every jump and corner are immense.
Gordon, 45, an Indycar and NASCAR driver as well as off-road champion and winner of his own stadium series in its inaugural year, has been a Toyo user and ambassador.
Even he was surprised when the Japanese manufacturer elected to use its customer tyre for the series. The rationale was that the race tyre is purpose built for long distance off road events. The lighter but equally strongly constructed road tyre was better suited to stadium and tarmac racing.
Gordon initiated the Stadium Super Truck Series in 2013 in a bid to bring off-road racing to prominence in American motor sport.
He has been successful in aligning the 2014 championship with several major events, including five Indycar series rounds, the massive US motor trade show SEMA, and the globally popular X-Games.
The partnerships have brought TV coverage from major networks NBC and ESPN and catapulted off-road racing into public awareness.
In a touch of marketing genius Gordon has secured major support from radio control model car maker Traxxas. The company has produced a range of high speed models based on the stadium trucks to run in their own series. “Try Me Tracks”, for public participation are set up at the stadium venues.
Gordon leads the 2014 series after three rounds- two held alongside the St. Petersburg round of the Indycar championship and another at the Long Beach Indycar Grand Prix.
Gordon with two wins on 85 points leads PJ Jones, son of famed Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones with one win on 65 points. The next round of the series is at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 23 two days before the Indianapolis 500.
The Speed Energy series has become a runaway PR success at race circuits and in the communities it visits.
Drivers make a point of supporting youth. At Long Beach they visited children through the Ronald McDonald hospital support program, making good use of their own trucks and the radio controlled miniatures produced by their sponsor.
“My goal is that soon we won’t say off road racing is a well-kept secret anymore, “Gordon said.
SPEED ENERGY FORMULA OFF-ROAD SERIES PRESENTED BY TRAXXAS.
2014 SCHEDULE:
23 May – Indianapolis 500
1 June – Detroit Grand Prix Belle Isle
7 June – Summer X-Games Austin TX
19 July– Honda Indy Ontario
19 September - California
11 November – SEMA, Las Vegas.
