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RACE: Valvoline Runoffs: Goodyear Racing report

Goodyear-equipped cars conquer 2003 Valvoline Runoffs MANSFIELD, Ohio (Sept. 22, 2003) -- Goodyear-equipped cars dominated the 2003 running of the SCCA Valvoline Runoffs at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, posting the ...

Goodyear-equipped cars conquer 2003 Valvoline Runoffs

MANSFIELD, Ohio (Sept. 22, 2003) -- Goodyear-equipped cars dominated the 2003 running of the SCCA Valvoline Runoffs at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, posting the best numbers in every important statistic.

Teams racing on Goodyear tires won more poles (13), more races (15), had more podium finishes (40) and swept the podium positions more times (7) than all other tiremakers combined. In addition, one driver using Goodyear tires won two national championships and an SCCA Triple Crown.

John Heinricy, who won national championships in both Touring 1 and American Sedan, said, "Goodyear tires are certainly the tires to have. They are great for qualifying and they work well throughout the whole race. They really stay with you the whole race."

Heinricy became the second driver in two years to win an SCCA Triple Crown on Goodyear tires when he won the American Sedan race. No other tire company has supplied tires to an SCCA Triple Crown winner in both years.

The drivers who raced to victory on Goodyear tires this year include Kent Prather (G Production), Mark Sandridge (Touring 2), Keith Grant (GT4), Chris Schanzle (Formula Mazda), James Goughary (GT2), Adam Malley (H Production), Doug Peterson (GT5), Mike Pinney (F Production), Mark Jaremko (D Sport Racer), Steve Johnson (Sport 2000), Jon Brakke (E Production), Mike Anderson (Formula Continental) and Collin Jackson (GT3).

Anderson said there was no question in his mind what tire brand to use to chase his championship on.

"For us, the tire choice was whether to go with the hard compound or the soft compound," Anderson said. "We knew Goodyear was the tire to use. We used the soft compound in the warmup and in two of the three qualifying sessions, but we went with the more conservative choice for the race."

Anderson was one of six Goodyear drivers who started on the pole position in their class and went on to win the race. The others included Brakke, Grant, Heinricy (in Touring 1), Johnson and Jaremko.

But Goodyear's tires performed for drivers who started all through their respective fields. Rusty Cook, for example, started 16th in the Formula 500 class. Cook charged to the front and was running eighth after just two laps. He was up to fourth place at the halfway point of the race and reached third by the 14th lap.

"I drove as hard as I could the whole way," Cook said. "(His Goodyear tires) stuck the whole way. They were consistent and predictable."

Goodyear's victories this year gave the tiremaker 41 wins in the Runoffs in the past three years, the best total in the tire industry. In that same period, Goodyear-shod cars have swept the podium 16 times, a total unapproached by other tiremakers.

When it comes to amateur racing's biggest event, nobody has more wins than Goodyear.

-goodyear-

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