CYPRESS, CALIFORNIA – On Sunday, February 4^th, Team Honda motorcycle champion Steve Hengeveld added another podium to his off-road racing, this time behind the wheel of the Fabtech / Toyo Tires® Ford F-150.  Competing for the first time in the Trick Truck class of the Best in the Desert off-road racing series, Hengeveld placed an impressive Third in Class in the Blue Water Resort & Casino Parker 425 at Parker, Arizona. 

Hengeveld, along with co-driver and fellow Team Honda member, Mike Childress, piloted the Toyo Tires® Open Country M/T™-equipped truck of Jones Motorsports.  This is the sister truck to that of Jesse Jones, 2005 Best in the Desert Trick Truck Champion, who also competed in the Parker race.  According to Jones, “Based on Steve’s performance this past weekend, I am considering our options to keep him around for the remainder of the season.”  According to Travis Roffler, Senior Director of Marketing, Toyo Tire (U.S.A.) Corporation, “Hengeveld demonstrated his amazing talent this past weekend, proving he is capable with either two or four wheels.  We are pumped the Open Country M/T™ was the tire of choice for this podium effort.” 

Hengeveld’s finish adds to the growing list of podiums for the Toyo Tires® Open Country M/T™, which entered the off-road racing arena in 2005.  In its first year of competition, the Open Country M/T™ won the Best in the Desert Trick Truck Class Championship with Jesse Jones, scored multiple championships in CORR (Championship Off Road Racing) and was overall champion in XRRA (Extreme Rock Racing Association).  The Open Country M/T™ features hook-shaped tread blocks, scalloped shoulder blocks and a high performance cap ply construction for excellent traction both on and off the highway.  CASPAN (Computer-Aided Simulator for Pattern Noise) technology, results in the Open Country M/T™ being one of the quietest mud terrain tires on the market. 

For more information on the Open Country M/T™ and the full line of products from Toyo Tires®, log on to toyo.com.    Toyo manufactures and distributes a complete line of high performance and original equipment replacement tires for passenger car, light truck, commercial truck, bus, off-road and construction applications.