Plano, Texas – Traxxas, the world’s leading maker of Ready-to-Race ® (RTR) 1/10th scale electric and nitro powered radio controlled (R/C) models is excited to announce that legendary ATV racing champion and R/C model enthusiast “Digger” Doug Gust has agreed  to endorse and help promote the company’s products within the ATV market.

Gust, three-time ATVA GNC Champion and reigning Champion of the WPSA Powersports ATV Tour, has been involved with the R/C hobby for years. His favorite current model is the Traxxas Revotm, the #1 racing Monster Truck and most advanced model in R/C truck history. He also owns several other Traxxas models and has owned several dozen different R/C cars and trucks during his time in the hobby. At his home, he built an off-road racing course for his models and often hosts fellow enthusiasts over for some ‘friendly’ R/C truck racing.

“Hobby-class radio controlled models like what Traxxas offers are above what you would call a toy. This is true motorsports just at a smaller scale,” commented Gust. “It’s a great hobby that can involve detailed engine tuning, suspension set ups, performance modifications, customizing, and of course, racing. Or you can keep it really simple and just go have a great time racing or bashing trucks with your friends around the yard or at the park or at a construction site. Traxxas makes it really easy to get started in R/C and to keep you out having fun and not having to put something together from a box of parts. Anyone who enjoys any kind of motorsports should really check out Traxxas models. They are really lots of fun.”

During the 2007 WPSA tour, the ATVA Championship series, and other ATV racing events in which Gust participates, Traxxas models will be on display and catalogs will be available during autograph and pit access periods. Traxxas will also develop a new ATV-market advertising campaign using Gust’s celebrity endorsement.

Bill Carter, Director of Marketing at Traxxas, explains the connection with ATV Racing, “We know through experience that people who enjoy ATVs, whether racing or just out having a great time, very often will get that same excitement from high-performance R/C trucks. Many ATV racers, motorcycle racers, NASCAR drivers, etc. are very much into the hobby-class R/C world. We’ve successfully made people aware of our brand of products through ATV magazine advertising for a couple of years now, and moving up to a level with an endorsement by a legend like Digger will help us let even more people know about this great hobby.”

More about Traxxas: - Traxxas makes the widest range of Ready-to-Race® R/C models with both electric and nitro powered vehicles, all retailed through a network of nearly 2,000 hobby stores in the U.S. and worldwide. Their Revotm 3.3 Monster Truck dominates the Monster Truck racing circuit and has won all four National Championships since the truck was introduced in 2004. Traxxas is well known for their T-Maxx® Monster Truck which was the first large-scale, fully Ready-to-Race® vehicle of it’s kind. T-Maxx continues to be the most widely used and supported model in R/C history. Electric vehicles like the Stampede® and Rustler® are top sellers at a lower price and skill requirement, and these models open up a new world of hobby-class R/C fun to tens of thousands of people each year.

All Traxxas models, including a line of boats, are approximately 1/10 scale and have top speeds that range from 25 mph to over 70 mph. A wide selection of parts and accessories are also available for maintenance, repair, hop-ups, and customizing. Electric models use modified electric motors with 6-to-7 cell rechargeable battery packs, while nitro vehicles are powered by small-scale 2-stroke engines fueled by a blend of methyl alcohol and nitromethane. Pricing is set by retailers, but generally the line ranges from around $150 up to over $500 for the more advanced nitro trucks.

Product line information and company history information can be found at www.traxxas.com.

Doug Gust, who is known as ‘Digger’ by his legions of fans, has been riding for the Factory Suzuki ATV race team the last four years and competes on a Suzuki LT-R450 QuadRacer. His first ATV race was in 1987, and has been a leading ATV race professional for nearly ten years. His achievements include:

2006 Champion, WPSA ATV Tour, SuperQuad Pro 450 Class
2006 2nd Place, GNC ATV Pro Class
2005 2nd Place, GNC ATV Pro Class
2004 Champion, GNC Pro Class
2003 Champion, GNC Pro Class
1999 Champion, GNC Pro ATV

For more information: Contact Bill Carter, Traxxas Director of Marketing; 972-265-8000 ext 174 or bcarter@traxxas.com