AUSTIN, Texas — Continental Tire the Americas is throwing its hat back into the motorsports ring, agreeing to supply tires for four trucks in the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks series.
Organized by versatile racer Robby Gordon, the SST Championship features a field of off-road race trucks competing on paved circuits with man-made ramps placed strategically to bring some of the off-roading to the race track.
Conti has agreed to equip four trucks with its street-legal TerrainContact A/T light truck tires. One of the four trucks will be wrapped in Continental's distinct gold and black livery and driven by professional racers Ryan Beat, Sheldon Creed and Greg Biffle at various events throughout the year.
Travis Roffler, director of marketing for Conti, said the SST Championship's brand of "high-flying … side-by-side racing" is the kind of competition that will show the TerrainContact A/T's capabilities.
Continental — which lost its premier racing showcase this year when IMSA opted to contract with Michelin North America for its WeatherTech endurance racing championship — will be competing against Toyo, which has been the series' exclusive tire supplier the past few seasons.
"To have Continental Tire … join the 2019 SST Championship as a tire partner is a big deal for the now 7-year-old series," SST Series President Robby Gordon said.
"There is no better environment for a manufacturer to prove the performance and durability in their DOT tire than with 600 hp high flying SST trucks."
The 2019 SST Championship kicks off this weekend at Circuit of the Americas in Austin as part of the track's inaugural IndyCar event. The 2019 season has five fixed race weekends and three tentative dates.