Toyo Tires sponsored race drivers continued to score wins in both drag racing as well as autocross over the weekend. Gary Forkner, driver of the Toyo Tires/Lucas Oil Pontiac GTO, won Round 3 Eliminations in the Sunset RaceCraft Top Sportsman event at Top Gun Raceway in Fallon, Nevada. A Division 7 event in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Forkner was making his third Final Round appearance of this year in Top Sportsman. Running on 33.5x17-16 Toyo Proxes Drag Slicks, he won by cutting a 0.004 light with a 7.721-second E.T at 179.70-mph.
Team Toyo import racers were also competing, with two separate events held simultaneously at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. On the autocross course, Ken Motonishi won the ST (Street Touring) class during the SCCA California Sports Car Club (Cal Club) region Solo. Driving his 1989 Honda Civic Si equipped with Toyo Proxes R1R extreme performance tires, Motonishi has won six solo events this year alone, including wins in both the SCCA Pro Solo series and the 2009 Solo National Tour. In fact, Motonishi has won every race he has entered during the 2009 racing season.
On the opposite end of the expansive Auto Club Speedway, Bizi Ezerioha ran his Toyo Tires 2006 Honda Insight shod with 26X9-15 Toyo Proxes Drag Slicks, to the Final Round of eliminations in the All-Motor class of the IDRC (Import Drag Racing Circuit). He finished runner-up to another Toyo Tires shod race car, a Mazda RX-7… making it an all-Toyo Tires final.
“We congratulate all of our Team Toyo drivers who continue to win in their sport on Toyo Tires, whether in drag racing or solo,” said Stan Chen, manager of events and motorsports, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. “Winning in such a diverse mix of racing demonstrates the engineering and commitment behind every Toyo Tires product.”
