Wed, 30 Mar 2005, 10:21 AM Toyo Tires Named Title Sponsor of NHRA POWERade Series Event at Maple Grove Raceway

Courtesy of NHRA Communications

GLENDORA, Calif. -- NHRA officials announced today that Toyo Tire USA Corporation, a leading manufacturer of high performance tires that is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2005, has been named title sponsor of the NHRA POWERade Series event at Maple Grove Raceway in southeast Pennsylvania.

The 21st annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals will be held Sept. 15-18 at the Mohnton, Pa.-based quarter-mile drag strip, located just west of metropolitan Philadelphia. The $1.7 million race, which will be televised on ESPN2, is the 19th of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

The multi-year agreement is the first NHRA POWERade Series event sponsorship for Toyo Tires, which has been heavily involved in the NHRA Sport Compact Series for several years, as both an event sponsor and associate sponsor for several leading drivers, including Stephan Papadakis, Abel Ibarra and Scott Kelley. With the addition of the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals, each of the 23 POWERade Series events now feature a title sponsor.

"We are excited to increase our involvement with NHRA by becoming the title sponsor of the POWERade Series event at Maple Grove Raceway," said Travis Roffler, senior director of marketing, Toyo Tire USA Corp. "We have enjoyed our association with NHRA's Sport Compact Series and are looking forward to maximizing our exposure opportunities by reaching out to its growing POWERade Series fan base through this event sponsorship program."

More than 500 racers are expected to compete in the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals, which will showcase competition in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle categories, and also will feature intense side-by-side racing action in several sportsman categories from the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.

"We are pleased to welcome Toyo Tires into our family of national event title sponsors in the POWERade Series and equally as excited to announce that all 23 of our national events are sponsored by great companies like Toyo Tires," said John Covarrubias, vice president of sales and business development, NHRA. "Toyo has certainly demonstrated a great ability to effectively utilize the NHRA Sport Compact Series for its marketing initiatives and we are proud that they have decided to become the title sponsor of the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at beautiful Maple Grove Raceway."