Veteran tire designer joins Mickey Thompson

April 24, 2003

Mickey Thompson Performance Tires has added Lester “Les” Garbicz to its tire engineering team.

Garbicz worked for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. for 25 years as Race Tire Development Engineer, designing tires for NHRA, NASCAR, IMSA, F-1 and CART Indy cars.

Mickey Thompson's Lee McMannis says, “We are very excited to have Mr. Garbicz on our team and the timing could not be better. Our company is aggressively developing new tires and with Les’ help we will get there much faster.”

Garbicz stated, “I’ve had my eye on Mickey Thompson Tires' fast-paced growth and have been very impressed by their accomplishments in the sportsman drag racing classes.”

Garbicz has spent a lot of time at the track testing and talking with racers and says he was intrigued by the loyalty of the Mickey Thompson racers. "I'm very excited at the opportunity to help bring Mickey Thompson Tires to the forefront of professional drag racing."

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. bought Mickey Thompson Performance Tires in March. The Findlay, Ohio-based tiremaker manages Mickey Thompson from the company's Stow, Ohio, location. The company also has a location in Temecula, Calif., and markets high performance, light truck radial, light truck bias and racing tires under its own name, plus the Dick Cepek brand.