Bridgestone guayule-based IndyCar tires pick up pace

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Bridgestone Americas Inc., the designated supplier of race tires to the NTT IndyCar series, will supply its guayule-based Firestone Firehawk race tire as the alternate tire on the series' five "street" races this year.

The first such race is the season opener March 5, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Fla.). The tires are marked with a green band on the sidewall.

While the news may be a footnote on the scorecard, it represents a genuine look into the future of how the tire industry may wean itself off natural rubber in favor of a more sustainable solution, Bridgestone said.

Bridgestone has been developing commercial uses for rubber derived from guayule, a woody desert shrub, for 11 years and has invested more than $100 million. The company has a processing and research center in Mesa, Ariz., and a 281-acre guayule farm in Eloy, Ariz.

Guayule is part of Bridgestone's plan for carbon neutrality and to make tires from 100% sustainable materials by 2050. The company is targeting commercial production of guayule-derived natural rubber by the end of the decade.

"We are driving sustainability in every area of our business, and we're thrilled to be advancing guayule and other sustainable practices in America's premier open-wheel racing series," Paolo Ferrari, CEO of Bridgestone Americas, said. "Firestone has a tremendous legacy of innovation and performance in racing, which we will continue to build upon as we move into this new era of cleaner, safer and more sustainable mobility on and off the track."

The guayule Firehawk was in one race last season — The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville, Tenn., in August.

Each IndyCar series race utilizes a standard tire and an alternate. Bridgestone said each team must use both tires, but the timing is up to the individual team.

This season, the other four races to include the tire as the alternate are Streets of Long Beach (Cailf.) on April 16; Streets of Detroit on June 4, Streets of Toronto on July 16 and the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville, Tenn., on Aug. 6.

Bridgestone said the performance of the standard Firehawk and the guayule version is the same.

Bridgestone builds more than 25,000 Firestone Firehawk race tires per season — drivers are given 10 sets per race. Around 1,900 guayule tires will be supplied to the series this season.

Firestone Firehawk race tires are built in Bridgestone's Advanced Test Production Center (ATPC) in Akron, which opened mid-year 2022. The facility is ISCC Plus certified for its transparency and traceability of sustainable raw materials including bio, bio-circular and circular-based synthetic rubber. The ATPC is the fourth Bridgestone facility in North America to gain the certification, the company said.