Thursday, March 26, 2009

TORC and VORE Bring the Off Road Racing Experience to the Fans

Crandon, WI (March 24, 2009)-TORC and Vegas Off Road Experience (VORE) announce partnership in creating professional off road racing drivers through professional "hands-on" personal instruction.

"What a great product and 'perfect fit' for our series," stated TORC founder Ricky Johnson. "We've been looking for and really need a program like this in off road racing. With this program drivers and amateur enthusiasts alike can be trained in a close 'hands on' environment to learn the winning techniques and tips from multiple time world off road racing champions." Along with creating champions TORC and VORE will be hosting celebrity charity racing events and "ride-alongs" on the actual short course track driven by the champions the day of the race. "It's a great way to get the local race track community active and excited to raise some valuable money for charity while getting up close and 'dirty' with popular celebrities from many different backgrounds," Johnson added.

VORE will be taking the off road racing word to the streets promoting the TORC series each race weekend as well as doing mainstream media campaigning in the host city of the race event the week prior to all the racing action.

Based in Las Vegas Nevada the entertainment capital of the world as well as an off road racers dream destination, the Vegas Off Road Experience (VORE) offers the exciting experience and winning tools needed to get started in the World's Greatest Sport, Off Road Racing!

The Traxxas TORC Series- The Off Road Championship, presented by AMSOIL is the world’s premier off road series, bringing together the best of Midwest short course off-road racing with exciting new Western State venues. TORC drivers push the limits with action-packed fender pounding on challenging natural terrain racetracks. The season kicks off May 15, 2009 at Texas Motor Speedway

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Toyo Tire U.S.A Corp. Launches New Toyotires.com

March 25, 2009

Toyo Tire U.S.A Corp. Launches New Toyotires.com



CYPRESS, CALIFORNIA – Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. announces the launch of their all-new website, toyotires.com. Representing the biggest facelift to date for the company’s online presence, the website is redesigned from top-to-bottom including a new web address.



The goal was to create a user-friendly resource tool for both consumers and dealers searching for premium replacement tires. The result is an easy to navigate, extremely informative web site. The fresh, clean design incorporates the company colors, blue and gray, and focuses on the complete line of tire products with brilliant imagery and graphics.



On the site, the new layout features a left-side navigation and a slide-out menu. Users can quickly and easily find the right tires, whether it is for their car, light truck, SUV or commercial vehicle. Each tire has a robust product page with features and benefits, sizes and specifications, warranty information and more. The product pages are also easy to print.



Using the tire finder, a person can quickly determine a proper replacement, either original or plus size, and even a proper inflation pressure for thousands of vehicles.



And finding an authorized Toyo Tires dealer is also easy. Consumers can search either by zip code or by city and state but they can also narrow their search by dealer name or specific products and services.



“Consumers and dealers alike will find the new toyotires.com to be a refreshing online experience; it is easy to use and full of great information,” said Julie Sediq, director of marketing communications, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. “From the comprehensive product pages to the tips on tire maintenance and the profiles of our Team Toyo racers, the site has something for everyone.”



To encourage sharing of information on the website, a brand new “share this” feature is located on every page. Using it, a person can easily post a link back to a page on sites such as Facebook®, Digg™, Redditt, MySpace and Twitter. They can also share the link in an email.



Designed and developed by The Garrigan Lyman Group in Seattle, Washington, the redesigned toyotires.com includes sections on care & safety, motorsports, dealer resources, technology and the company.



Log on now to toyotires.com to learn even more about your favorite products, racers and related activities. Toyo Tires manufactures and distributes a complete line of replacement tires for high performance cars, luxury vehicles, light trucks and SUVs as well as tires for commercial trucks, buses and off-road and construction applications.



# # #



(For more information on Toyo Tires, log on to http://www.toyoeditor.com/pressreleases.html)



Media Contact: Jay Jones, TMC

Tel. 949-851-6313, Fax. 949-833-0253

jay.jones@tmcauto.com

Toyo Media Site: www.toyoeditor.com

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

THE FIRST RACE TRACK NOW FEATURED ON STREET VIEW IN GOOGLE MAPS


THE FIRST RACE TRACK NOW FEATURED ON STREET VIEW IN

GOOGLE MAPS

Mazda Raceway Gets Pole Position



MONTEREY, Calif., (March 24, 2009) – Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the world-renowned race track and Google Maps, the #1 online mapping site in the world will launch the first race track to be filmed for Street View on March 26.



Street View is an interactive feature of Google Maps that allows the viewer to experience a location as if they are viewing it from street-level. For Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, viewers will experience the track as if they are driving and leading an American Le Mans Series race. It was the first race track filmed for Street View and Google captured the action at the 2008 season finale race.



“In racing the goal is to be first,” said Scott Atherton President and CEO, American Le Mans Series. “The American Le Mans Series is the first race to be filmed for Street View and this project with Google once again demonstrates how we align with leaders in innovative technology.”



“This technology gives our fans a real personal view and experience of what it is like to race with the pros,” said Gill Campbell CEO/general manager, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.



Street View was first launched in May 2007 with just five cities and Google has since expanded to cover over 200 cities in the U.S. as well cities in eight additional countries. With this launch, Google Maps will now provide Street View for tourist attractions and popular destinations around the world and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was the first race track photographed to be included in Street View. This is a very innovative, unique way of allowing users all around the world to experience the raceway just as a driver would.



How was it filmed? Street View imagery is captured by a vehicle with a multi-lens spherical camera taking digital pictures in every direction. GPS and other Geospatial data were collected simultaneously with the photographic imagery. Street View features state of the art technology to blur faces and license plates as well as ground-filling to show the ground of the track instead of the roof of the car that is actually below the camera.



The imagery is then integrated into Google Maps, combining with its other features such as satellite and terrain views to give an immersive interactive experience, as if you were driving on the track."



Street View is available without downloading a program. Just go to maps.google.com, search for Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, then click and drag the little yellow man to the area viewers wish to experience. Street View is even available on mobile phones, allowing you to see places all around the world in the palm of your hand.



Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was established in 1957. The world-renowned raceway has been operated since its inception by the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP), a not-for-profit 501C(4) corporation. Each race season, SCRAMP donates its net proceeds to the volunteer groups that help put on the races.



Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca’s world-class 2009 racing schedule includes the Festival of Speed featuring Rolex Grand-Am Series May 15-17, Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix featuring MotoGP World Championship July 3-5, the 36th Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races August 14-16 and the Monterey Sports Car Championships featuring the American Le Mans Series October 9-11.



###









Jennifer Capasso

Public Relations Manager

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

P.O. Box 2078

Monterey, CA 93942

831.242.8225

213.590.6710 Mobile

831.373.0533 Fax

www.MazdaRaceway.com

jennifer@MazdaRaceway.com

MasterCraft Team 35 Fights Hard for Top Ten Finish at San Felipe 250

A Rewarding Disappointment



MasterCraft Team 35 Finishes 8th in Trophy Truck Class at the 2009 SCORE San Felipe 250



Famous fiction author, Louis L'Amour, must have had Team 35 in mind when he said "Victory is won not in miles but in inches." After suffering from a devastating crash at the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge, the #35 Jimco MasterCraft Trophy Truck driven by team owner, Robbie Pierce, had to undergo a massive tear-down and transformation in preparation for the first Baja race of the 2009 season.



Drawing for the fourth starting position, Robbie was certain the SCORE San Felipe 250 would be a great race by commenting, "I am completely humbled by the unselfish effort that has been put out over the last five weeks to make the San Felipe race a reality. The entire team, including Mike Julson, Bill Varnes and his crew, and John and Mike over at Jimco, have worked non-stop and I cannot thank them enough. I am truly grateful to everyone and I will do my best to make them proud."



Unfortunately all the sweat and skinned knuckles could not prepare the team for the unlucky change of events that occurred just one day before the race. While doing a last minute systems and equipment test near Borrego, the engine on the Trophy Truck began losing power and idling rough. Hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, the pre-run crew pulled the valve-cover and after a thorough inspection concluded the head was cracked.



Not willing to let five weeks of hard work go down the drain, Pierce made the decision to race the pre-runner remarking, "We all showed up to race and I wasn't about ready to let the guys down. Just 18 hours before staging we made the decision to save the race by working all night and prepping my Prophy truck. Our goal this year is to win a SCORE race in the Trophy Truck class and I don't think that is possible without a good starting position. I felt like I was bringing a knife to a gun fight but I knew I needed to finish in the top 10 if I wanted a good draw and a shot at winning the Baja 500."



With nearly 3,500 pre-run miles under its belt, Team 35 was a little nervous about the outcome of the race and how the pre-runner would fare after the starting flag dropped. On the way to staging Pierce commented, "It's just too bad we couldn't get the Jimco to the line. The truck was truly running awesome. The shocks and suspension were dialed in perfectly and I couldn't be happier with some of the changes that were made after Laughlin."



Racing for a top 10 finish instead of a win changed the team's strategy for race day. Running the truck conservatively, Robbie passed an upside-down Roger Norman in the #8 Trophy Truck around race mile 68. Shortly after, Pierce and his co-driver, John Vance, were plague by a broken upper ball-joint causing the team to lose a couple of hours while the crew fixed the truck in the field. Other than a tire change at mile 165, the remainder of the race was uneventful and the Prophy crossed the finish line 7 hours, 34 minutes and 36 seconds after it began its journey.



Finishing the SCORE San Felipe 250 with an admirable 8th place in the Trophy Truck class, Pierce commented, "This is the most disappointing and rewarding race in my short career. I cannot praise the team enough. Led by Dan Fogle and Bob Howle, the team worked tirelessly into the night to get 'The Little Truck that Could' as prepared as possible. This was their race."



Held in Baja California, Mexico, the 2009 San Felipe 250 marked round two of SCORE International's five race desert series. The course traversed 232.4 miles of sandy washes, silt, rocky and whooped out terrain. The MasterCraft Team #35 will be back and looking for a win at the SCORE Baja 500 in Ensenada, Baja California, June 5 - 7, 2009.



For more information about

MasterCraft Team 35 visit:

www.mastercraftseats.com



MasterCraft Team 35 is sponsored by



BF Goodrich • Jimco • Mirage

Fox Shox • Walker Evans

Mogi • MSD Ignition

Palomar Communications

Hyperco





For press information contact Kelli Willmore

kelli@willmore.com or 602.295.2767

Monday, March 23, 2009

DP Racing Team Race, coming soon