Toyo expands racing presence as presenting sponsor of two SCCA championship events

Toyo, the official tire of the Sports Car Club of America Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Championships, has been named the presenting sponsor of this weekend’s GT and Touring Car races at Mosport International Raceway as well as the SPEED Touring Car season finale at Road Atlanta.

Run as part of the Mobil 1 Grand Prix of Mosport weekend with the American Le Mans Series, Saturday’s race will henceforth be referred to as the “Mosport SPEED GT Presented by Toyo Tires,” with Sunday’s touring car event dubbed the “Mosport SPEED Touring Car Presented by Toyo Tires.”

The 10th, and final, race of the Touring Car season on Oct. 3 will also be sponsored by the tire maker and called the “Road Atlanta SPEED Touring Car Finale Presented by Toyo Tires.”

“Toyo is proud to be the presenting sponsor of the exciting SPEED GT and Touring Car events at Mosport, and for the final Touring Car race of the season at Road Atlanta,” says Steve Hutchinson, Toyo’s vice president of marketing. “Toyo has enjoyed a long association with SPEED World Challenge, showcasing both the technology and performance capabilities of our Proxes line of high performance tires such as the Proxes R888 D.O.T.-approved competition tire currently used in the series.”

“Toyo Tires has been a great partner of SCCA Pro Racing and the SPEED World Challenge series since 2001, and it is great to see their name associated with two excellent events,” reports SCCA Vice President of Marketing and Communications Eric Prill. “Mosport, with some of the most enthusiastic fans in North America, has held the most World Challenge events in series history and, with the top three Touring Car drivers currently separated by only five points, I know the Road Atlanta finale will be a barnburner.”

This weekend’s race kicks off Friday, Aug. 22 with practice. Both series qualify on Saturday, followed by the feature race at 6:30 p.m. (EDT). Sunday features the Touring Car event at 10:45 a.m. Both races will air Wednesday, Aug. 27 beginning at noon on the cable SPEED Network.

Divided into two separate series and races (SCCA SPEED GT and SCCA SPEED Touring Car), the SCCA SPEED World Challenge Championships are America’s top production car-based series, according to Prill. Competing at 12 high-profile venues in 2008, the series is an important showcase for the world’s leading auto brands and makers of performance parts. The events are a maximum of 50 minutes in length, feature standing starts with manufacturers racing head-to-head.