Discount Tire Co.'s Billy Link will represent the United States in Hanau, Germany, next April at the Dunlop Drivers Cup championship. The multi-day driving event begins in Hanau on April 14 and ends in Marrakech, Morocco.
Link, 31, a store manager at one of Discount Tire's Houston locations, recently won the Drivers Cup U.S. Qualifier at Virginia International Raceway in the retailer class. He was the lone qualifier in that class.
Six events make up the Drivers Cup: on-track racing, karting, autocross, off-road sport-utility, off-road all-terrain vehicle and motocross. Link won half of the six events, grabbing the checkered flag in ATV, autocross and motocross.
Ryan Brenneman, a Discount Tire Co. manager in San Dimas, Calif., also raced. Although they had never met previously, Link and Brenneman both have 12 years of service with Discount Tire and a "love for racing," says Link.
Link and Brenneman competed with the following retailers in Virginia:
* Josh Baughman, general manager of wholesale operations, North Central Tire, Canton, Ohio;
* Steven Andre, vice president of retail operations, Steven Sorbaro, owner, Mavis Discount Tire, Mt. Kisco, N.Y.;
* Jim Uliano, vice president of retail operations, Town Fair Tire Centers Inc., East Haven, Conn.;
* Angelo Ianelli, general manager of wholesale operations, Albert Tire, Pennsauken, N.J.;
* Fred Allen Jr., vice president, Allen Tire Co., Los Angeles;
* Marco Brodeur, region manager, Unimax, Granby, Quebec.
The 10-day excursion is scheduled to travel through six European countries -- with driving events in each nation -- and finish on the African continent.
European Dunlop officials started Drivers Cup in 1998 to showcase Dunlop's racing heritage and its broad range of passenger, truck, motorcycle and all- terrain-vehicle tire lines.
To enter next year's Drivers Cup event, apply now at www.dunloptires.com/driverscup.
