The Tire Rack and Tire Kingdom Inc. are the two finalists in the Yokohama Atlantic Dealer Challenge.
The two are heading into the season finale of the Yokohama Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda, say Yokohama Tire Corp. officials.
The program, which began in April, pitted three race competitors representing each of eight retailers against each other in a contest to see which retailer would win the championship, along with their driver.
Yokohama's ADVAN racing slick tires are used by all competitors in the series.
"Candidly, this program has been very educational to us on how we can better implement the usage of our motorsports programs," say Yokohama officials. "This is just the beginning and now we face the great challenge of doing something even more unique in 2007."
"Yokohama took a very unique approach to leveraging their sponsorship within racing by involving various dealers and creating a competition," says Bob Crostarosa, vice president of marketing for Tire Kingdom.
"It gave us, as a retail organization, a chance to involve our store personnel in the racing world and gave our store personnel a rooting interest and a connection."
Other companies participating in the 2006 Yokohama Atlantic Dealer Challenge included Big O Tires Inc.; Conrad's Tire Express; Discount Tire Co.; National Tire and Battery; Tires Warehouse; and Wheel Works.
