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Firestone Named Official Tire And Associate Sponsor Of St. Pete Grand Prix
St. Petersburg, Fla. (November
30, 2004) – Officials from the 2005 Honda
Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and Bridgestone Firestone
North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) announced today that
Firestone will be the official tire and a major associate
sponsor for the inaugural event, to be held April 1-3,
2005.
The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg,
the first street-circuit race in the history of the
Indy Racing League’s IndyCar Series, will be run
on a 1.806-mile, 14-turn course through the streets
of St. Petersburg on Sunday, April 3, 2005. Practice
and qualifying sessions for the event will be held on
Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2.
“Firestone is one of the strongest
brands in all of motorsports and we are proud to have
them play such an important role in the Honda Grand
Prix of St. Petersburg,” said Barry Green, managing
director of the event. “With strong sponsors like
Honda and Firestone, this event will be one of the premier
stops on the motorsports calendar.”
The Firestone brand has appeared in
world-class motorsports events across the globe since
its debut as a race tire in the 1909 Indianapolis 300.
In 2005, Firestone will enter its tenth season of IRL
competition as the only tire manufacturer to have participated
in every IRL event since the league’s inaugural
race in 1996. Since 2002, Firestone has served as the
official tire of the Indy Racing League and the Indianapolis
500 Mile Race, which has been won by a Firestone-equipped
driver 55 times in its 88-year history.
“Obviously we’re excited
about the IRL’s first street course event and
the opportunity to showcase our street course tires
for the first time in this league.,” said Al Speyer,
executive director, Firestone Racing. “Besides
the competitive aspect, this is a great market for us.
We have a great marketing partner in our Tires Plus
locations and we’re planning some exciting in-market
promotions with them that will give us a chance to promote
the event and our products at the same time. We’re
also very pleased that Barry Green and Andretti Green
Promotions are spearheading this event and are confident
they’ll produce a great race we can all be proud
of and continue to build on in the years ahead."
Nashville-based Bridgestone Firestone
North American Tire, LLC, is a subsidiary of Bridgestone
Americas Holding, Inc., whose parent company, Bridgestone
Corporation, is the world's largest tire and rubber
company. BFNT develops, manufactures, and markets Bridgestone,
Firestone, Dayton and associate and private brand tires.
The company is focused on wholesale and original equipment
markets, supplying passenger, light truck, commercial
vehicle, off-road, agricultural and other tires to its
customers in North America.
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