GOODYEAR ACT LIMITED LATE MODEL TIRE TEST SUCCESSFUL

Waterbury, VT – Officials of the Goodyear Engineering and Racing Division and the American Canadian Tour (ACT) have announced that the final test of their new tire designed for a Limited Late Model was very successful.

Veteran racer Joey Laquerre from Barre, VT took his ACT Tiger Sportsman car to Hickory Speedway in North Carolina last week to assist with the test of the D2637 – 7.5” treaded tire designed for a Limited Late Model, or +/- 3000 lb ‘street stock’ division type race car. Laquerre originally tested the Goodyear D2635 tire for the ACT Sportsman division in 2008. He was instrumental in helping to get the modifications made resulting in a revolutionary tire for these kinds of race cars throughout the country. Laquerre also did extensive testing on the ACT Late Model tire in 2004, which led to present use by a dozen tracks, and both ACT Touring divisions in the US and Canada.

“The test went really well, and working with Joel (Reichert, a development engineer for Goodyear racing) is always interesting. He listens to what we as racers think might help the product. Goodyear really improved the tire with the added half inch, creating a better contact patch, and I was very pleased that after 150 laps of testing the tire was still performing within a tenth or two of where we had been 100 laps earlier,” said Laquerre.

The American Canadian Tour has been involved with development of short track tires in conjunction with Goodyear for over 20 years. “ It is great to have the world’s highest profile racing tire company work with us for the betterment of short track racing,” said Tom Curley, President of the American Canadian Tour. “We started out working on a treaded tire back around 1990. A few years ago we saw a need for an upgrade on the 8” Late Model slick, and Goodyear allowed us to work with them to produce the state of the art 8” slick which has become very popular nationwide and is used by our affiliate tracks and both our US ACT and Canadian Castrol tours. Now with the development of the 7.5” D2637 treaded tire, we have come full circle.”

The American Canadian Tour, which is a 25-year old sanctioning body for short track events throughout the Northeast is also working with Goodyear on a cost-effective four-cylinder tire. Additionally, Goodyear will be providing ACT competitors with a special tire for their second ACT INVITATIONAL to be held at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 18, 2010.

Scott Junod, Goodyear Sales Manager, Short Track Racing, said, “Working with the competitors at ACT is always a very positive and rewarding experience for Goodyear. We have done a lot of testing with them over the past few years, and all of us in Engineering and Sales have really enjoyed the relationship. We are especially grateful to Joey (Laquerre) and appreciate all the help and input he has given us in development of this new tire for the Limited Late Model (ACT Tiger Sportsman) type car.”

The ACT Tiger division has been popular since 1966 at the flagship track, Thunder Road Speedbowl in Barre, VT. Annually, there are over forty (40) teams that compete weekly. Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, NY has seen continued success with the division for twenty years, and in 2010, White Mountain Motorsport Park in Lincoln, NH and the Devil’s Bowl Speedbowl in Fair Haven, Vermont will adopt the ACT rules for the ACT Tiger Sportsman division.

The Bond Auto/Wix “Tiger Sportsman Tour” will be expanding in 2010 to include events at both Thunder Road and White Mountain, as well as Riverside Speedway in Groveton, NH and Canaan Fair Speedway in Canaan, NH.

Tracks from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and Ontario have indicated they will run the new Goodyear tire in 2010 following the testing results from Hickory.