Las Vegas, NV – March 23, 2012 – General Tire announced today, in conjunction with the National Off Road Racing Association (NORRA), that they will title sponsor the 2012 Mexican 1000. The General Tire NORRA Mexican 1000 will run April 28 – May 2, 2012 and cover more than 1,100 miles down the exotic Baja peninsula from Mexicali to San Jose Del Cabo. This year’s rally, the third since the Mexican 1000 revival in 2010, is comprised of gritty, old school racing and a variety of unique social activities and is sure to be one for the history books.

Known as “The Happiest Race on Earth”, the Mexican 1000 is gaining a reputation for bringing fun and a shared sense of adventure back to Baja off-road racing. The one-of-a-kind, once-a-year rally spotlights vintage off-road vehicles, motorcycles and ATVs, as well as rally cars, a limited number of modern desert racecars, and classes for prerunner-type trucks and buggies. The four-day, on and off-road rally offers teams high-speed off-road driving with unparalleled views of Mexico’s scenic Baja peninsula, as well as offering new levels of the hospitality and social camaraderie that is the heart of the General Tire Mexican 1000 experience.

“The Mexican 1000 is where off-road racing started and for General Tire to be involved with such a historical event is extremely cool,” said Travis Roffler, director of marketing for General Tire. “This was a great opportunity for General to be involved with an event that is truly about the racing, the camaraderie, and the challenge of conquering the Baja peninsula. It’s ‘old school’ and that sets the Mexican 1000 apart from all the other races. We’re looking forward to our partnership with NORRA to make this year’s event the best one yet.”

Check out Off-Road.com’s 2011 Mexican 1000 Coverage

“While our Mexican 1000 has quickly earned a reputation for being a unique, world-class motor sports experience, the addition of General Tire as our title sponsor allows us to take the entire event to new levels of hospitality, publicity and stature,” explained NORRA president Mike Pearlman. “Today’s announcement is a true milestone in the event’s history, and our goal now is to make the General Tire NORRA Mexican 1000 a legacy event for GT much like this weekend’s Mint 400. On behalf of NORRA and all our racers, we welcome General Tire to our growing family of corporate partners.”

The world’s first professional off-road race was organized by Ed Pearlman in 1967, when 68 motorsports enthusiasts gathered in Tijuana, Baja, Mexico with an eclectic mix of trucks, buggies, sedans, and motorcycles with the hopes of conquering the unknown Baja peninsula. The following year 260 entrants arrived and quickly thereafter, the sport reached mainstream status eventually evolving into the Baja 1000 which we know it as today.

NORRA is keeping the “old school” tradition of the Mexican 1000 and is expecting more than 100 entries for this year’s event. And in the true spirit of the race, legendary driver Walker Evans was the first to register for this year’s event. Evans will be joined by a long list of racing icons like Bob Gordon, Frank Arciero, Malcolm Smith, Mark McMillin, Larry Ragland, Michael Gaughan, Mark Post and many others. General Tire will be represented by the two-car effort of Jim Riley and Rick Johnson, both competing at this weekend’s General Tire Mint 400.

For more information on the General Tire NORRA Mexican 1000, visit www.mexican1000.com.