Goodyear Racing Pomona event report

BURTON, FICCO NET SPORTSMEN WINS ON GOODYEAR TIRES

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 14, 2010) - Stock car racing had the Alabama Gang and drag racing has the Colorado Crew.

Brad Burton (Golden, Colo.) and Lou Ficco Jr. (Wheatridge, Colo.), two sportsman racers from the Rocky Mountain state, used Goodyear tires to win their categories in the 50th running of the Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway Pomona. The two sportsmen wins brought Goodyear's total to five wins at Pomona, the best among tiremakers.

Burton and Ficco won in the NHRA's Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series sportsmen categories. The other Goodyear winners were in the NHRA's Full Throttle Drag Racing Series categories. They included Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock).

Burton won his third national event when he captured victory in Stock Eliminator in a 1972 Pontiac Firebird, using a pair of Goodyear's D4201 Eagles on the back.

"I have to say the Goodyear tires have been absolutely flawless," Burton said. "There is no spinning. The 60-foot times have been consistent, which really matters for us down track. "

Burton recently switched to Goodyear tires after using other brands.

"We tried (the D4201) last year and decided to switch to Goodyear," he said. "We've had great success so far."

The D4201 is part of Goodyear's Eagle radial racing tire line. It measures 30 inches tall and mounts on a 15-inch wheel.

Ficco, racing in the Competition Eliminator category on his father's birthday, beat Dean Carter in an all-Goodyear final in Competition Eliminator. The 36-year old Ficco, a contractor, drove a 2009 Pontiac GXP to the victory. His car was equipped with a pair of D2053 Goodyear Eagles on the back.

"It's just a great tire," Ficco Jr. said. "It seems to work real well for us. We get good life out of them and I'm very happy with them. I've been racing for 20 years and I've never run anything but Goodyears."

The D2053 measures 33inches tall by 17 inches across the tread and mounts on a 15-inch wheel. The construction includes Goodyear's D4A tread compound.

-source: goodyear