Kumho Named Official Tire of Traxxas Off-Road Series

Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., March 4, 2009— Kumho Tires, one of the world’s leading tire manufacturers, has been named the official tire of the new Traxxas Off Road Championship (TORC) Series, the world’s premier short course off-road racing series. Kumho will supply tires to Scott Douglas in the Pro 4 class and to Chad Hord in Pro Lite class.

“We’re looking forward to continuing our participation in short course off-road racing,” said Rudy Consolacion. “This will be our ninth year of competition, and we’ll once again run with some of the best in the business. Scott and Chad have both won short course off-road championships and prove the performance, toughness and durability of our light truck tires every time they take the green flag.”

As official tire of TORC, Kumho will be racing on such classic tracks as Crandon and Bark River. In addition, Kumho will receive track signage, website ads and other promotional considerations and additional television coverage during race broadcasts. The TORC series will include nine race weekends, kicking off May 15 at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix. For more information, visit the TORC web site at www.torcseries.com.

Setting the Record Straight

Happy New Year!  There has been some discussion on the forums about Kumho’s plans for 2009.  I hope to clear up some of the questions that linger.

First and foremost, Kumho is not pulling out of SCCA.  I’ll digress for a moment.  Back in 1992, Kumho Korea asked the Kumho Technical Center how Kumho can increase brand awareness in the United States.  At the time, Dan Dougherty, engineer extraordinaire and car guy, offered up the SCCA as a theater to expand Kumho’s brand name.  Kumho Korea gave the nod and Dan Dougherty got to work and created the V700 Victoracer.  He went out to some National Club races and began talking to racers about this new product.  He managed to convince some racers to try it out and Kumho scored their first National Club race victory in 1993.  A glorious moment in Kumho history.  By the following year, Kumho had four Club racing division championships.  The first Solo2 championship came in C-Stock in 1996.  Then in 1998, a tearful moment for me, not one, but two Club racing and six Solo2 national championships.  Not bad considering the giants of the time, BFG and Hoosier.

Anyway, hats off to Dan Dougherty for hitting the nail on the head.  His vision of tapping knowledge leaders in the automotive aftermarket to tout the Kumho name worked.  It’s like having an army of sales associates, spread throughout the country, pushing the Kumho name.  Kumho recognizes this and will continue supporting grassroots racing. 

I came across a saying recently.  A bend in the road is not the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn.  The current economic crisis is the bend in the road.  Kumho is taking steps now to make sure that we make the turn so that we can continue down the road to provide future support to grassroots racing.  Development of the V710 will continue in 2009 as will the proliferation of new sizes of our new wet racing radial, the W710.  We will be showing up to select Solo and Club races throughout the season with the support trailer.  A schedule of those events will be posted here in the near future.  Although the payout amounts will be reduced, we will continue the regional Club racing contingency program for 2009.

Kumho cannot express enough thanks to all of the racers and workers that have used our product in the past and promoted our brand.  To that, we are forever in your debt.  We hope that you can understand our position during these difficult times and continue supporting our brand.

~Rudy Consolacion, Motorsports Manger

Hello grassroots racers!

The silly season is upon us and there are many rumors circulating about the future of Kumho Tires in the world of grassroots motorsports.  This site was created with the intention of centralizing information about Kumho Tires’ motorsports activities in the United States.  Everyone wants to be in the know and this site should be a gateway for you knowledge hungry racers.

Jason Myers, my right-hand man, and I are diligently working on next year’s program.  With the state of the economy, it’s a blessing that Kumho Tires still wants to be involved in motorsports both in the U.S. and worldwide.  With that said, the marketing budget took a big hit for 2009 and adjustments to the program are necessary to achieve our goals while staying within the budget.  We will be focusing on three major elements; SCCA/NASA, ALMS and CORR.  As I type this, we are still juggling the budget and final decisions have not yet been made.  There are so many factors that need resolved and each of these three elements will effect each other.

To the SCCA/NASA membership, Kumho will stay involved.  It will not be to the level as seen in the past 15 years.  (Wow!  Hard to believe we’ve been doing it that long.)  Kumho will continue to develop our competition tire line in order to deliver competitive products with the value you’re accustom to. 

The contingency program for SCCA National-level Club and Solo racing is suspended indefinitely.  Until the economy turns around, Kumho starts making more of a profit, and the marketing budget increases, the contingency program will have to go on the back burner.  The program for the Regional Club racing is under the microscope.  The payouts may be reduced, but there is still a glimmer of hope for this contingency program.

So, thanks for visiting and stay tuned.  Hope your holidays are fun and safe!

~Rudy Consolacion, Motorsports Manager