Competing in the 87th running of the historic Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado; Rhys Millen drove his RMR Hyundai Genesis Coupe equipped with Toyo Proxes R1R extreme performance tires to a Time Attack 2WD division win. Millen also set a new world record of 12:09:397 on the 156-turn mountain course, beating his own personal best by 22 seconds, and finished one minute and 23 seconds ahead of the next fastest car in his division. Notorious for extreme changes in weather, the race course begins at a 9,390-foot elevation, and then climbs to the summit at 14,110-feet.
“I chose to run on the Toyo Proxes R1R on race day knowing that its high grip level would get us to the 10 mile mark in record time,” said Millen. “During the 12.5 mile run I experienced slippery pavement with rain and hail at the start line, 95-degree weather in the middle and an abrasive upper two miles of crushed granite. A large contributor to the huge time reduction of this year’s record breaking run was due to the tires.”
Millen’s heavily modified Genesis Coupe used off-the-shelf 245/40ZR18 Proxes R1R tires in the front and 265/35ZR18 in the rear. They are the same tires available at any Toyo Tires independent dealer for performance driven cars.
Toyo Proxes Drag Slicks also won this past weekend at the CMI Summer Nationals sport compact drag race at Sacramento Raceway in Sacramento, California. With track temperatures measuring a blistering 130-degree Fahrenheit, Bisi Ezerioha won the Quick N Fast 8 class. Driving his Toyo Tires-sponsored all-motor 2006 Honda Insight, Ezerioha defeated a turbocharged Honda Civic in the final. He managed a quarter mile pass in 9.85 seconds at 143-MPH on 28x9-15 front Proxes Drag Slicks.
In short course off-road racing, Rick Huseman maintains his Pro 4X4 Truck class championship points lead in The Off-Road Championship Series (TORC). Racing his No. 36 Monster Energy/Traxxas/Toyota /Toyo Tires Tundra on 35X12.50R17 Toyo Open Country M/T-R tires, Huseman finished in third place during Round 8 on Sunday. Team LeDuc also continued their podium streak in the series, with Curt LeDuc and son Kyle finishing second and third during Saturday’s Round 7, Pro 4X4 Truck race. Sunday, Todd LeDuc powered his way to a third place finish during Round 8 of the Pro 2WD Truck class.
“We congratulate Rhys Millen for driving his Toyo Tires equipped Hyundai Genesis Coupe to a record-breaking Pikes Peak win,” said Stan Chen, manager of events and motorsports, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. “Credit goes to all racers who captured victories and podiums this past weekend, demonstrating once again that Toyo tires win in a broad spectrum of motorsports disciplines.”
