Yokohama-Sponsored Heidi Steele returns to action at Baja 500

May 29, 2012

Heidi Steele is back. The Yokohama Tire Corporation-sponsored off-road driver – and defending Class 6 SCORE (Southern California Off Road Enthusiasts) champion – will make her season debut at the 44th Tecate SCORE Baja 500, June 1-3 in Ensenada, Baja, Mexico. As before, Steele, and co-driver/Desert Assassins teammate Rene Brugger, will tackle the tough Baja terrain in a Ford Ranger with off-the-shelf Geolandar M/T+ tires.

Steele, wife of Trophy Truck veteran Cameron Steele (also competing in Baja), missed the first part of the off-road season to give birth to her first child, Cameron Kay Steele. Now she’s ready to race.

“It feels great to be back on track,” Steele said. “Racing is a complete contrast to the last seven weeks of being a new mom. I’m looking forward to the adrenaline rush, having fun in the dirt and winning a race for Yokohama and my teammates.”

Heidi, a four-time SCORE champion and two-time winner of the Baja 500, doesn’t feel she’ll be rusty for her first race of the year. “It’s funny with off-road racing because you don’t get to practice a lot on sanctioned race courses. I don’t think it will take me long to get back up to speed.”

“Heidi’s super competitive and is ready to roll,” said Cameron Steele, the San Clemente, California-based off-roader and two-time SCORE Person of the Year. “I know she’s itching to get behind the wheel and push her Yokohama tires to another first-place finish.”

Cameron has two 800-horsepower Geiser Brothers Trophy Trucks entered in the Baja 500, both running on newly developed 40-inch Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S R tires specially engineered for extreme off-road conditions. “They are a dream to race on,” said Cameron.
A field of 40 Trophy Trucks are entered in this year’s Baja 500, for what promises to be a hotly-contested race.  Cameron Steele will be piloting the No. 16 truck and has drawn the 7th starting position.  “The favorable positioning coupled with recent developments to the 40” Geolandar A/T-S R tire will give us a great chance for success,” said Cameron. The No. 14 Desert Assassins Trophy Truck will start further back in the field.  Trophy Trucks have 26” of front-wheel travel and 36” of rear-wheel travel, and can hit a top speed of 135 mph.

 “We’re looking toward another great Baja race with Cameron, Heidi and the Desert Assassins,” said Andrew Briggs, Yokohama’s director of product planning and motorsports. “It’s great to have Heidi back behind the wheel and the development of the Geolandar A/T-S R tire for the Trophy Truck continues to go well.”