Hoosier’s growing consumer focus to include UTV tire line

LAS VEGAS — The debut earlier this year of the TrackAttack Pro extreme-performance summer tire line was the just the first of a number of consumer-facing product launches Hoosier Racing Tire has in the pipeline, company officials told Tire Business this week.

The more consumer-oriented product development strategy got off to a solid start as the TrackAttack Pro line was judged to be the best new tire product at the 2024 SEMA Show. 

Available in 46 sizes, the TrackAttack Pro covers 15- to 21-inch rim diameters and is being evaluated as a candidate for a number of racing series that require a DOT-approved tire, according to Joerg Burfien, president and CEO of Hoosier Racing Tire, a Continental A.G. subsidiary. 

The TrackAttack Pro carries a UTQG treadwear rating of 200 and an off-the-shelf tread depth of 7/32nds inch. 

Looking ahead, Hoosier has developed a tire line dubbed NemesisX for the ultra-terrain-vehicle (UTV) market, which Burfien described as the fastest-growing market segment in North America. 

The NemesisX will launch in March 2025 in five popular sizes with five additional sizes in development for launch later in the year. The first five sizes should cover over 80% of the market. 

Pricing is yet to be determined, but Burfien indicated Hoosier wants the product to be considered on the premium end of the scale. 

The TrackAttackPro and NemesisX launches represent a new direction for Hoosier, Burfien stressed in a conversation with Tire Business at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. It’s the first time in the company’s 65-year history that Hoosier is using names for its products instead of just number/letter designations. 

This reflects the company’s push into the consumer sector from its core motorsports business, he noted. This started a few years back when Continental designated Hoosier to be the marketing and distribution channel for its ExtremeContactForce tire line, a niche extreme-performance tire line.

The difference between that product line and the new Hoosier-branded product is the development path.

The Conti product started life as a consumer tire line that was further developed for the street/track market, whereas Hoosier started with a pure-bred racing tire concept/design and developed that platform into a street/track product. 

Among tires that would compete with the new Hoosier product are the Bridgestone RE71, Michelin Cup R, Pirelli SuperTrofeo and Yokohama AO52.

Potential competition venues include some World Racing League, National Auto Sport Association and Sports Car Club of America events, as well as events in Europe and Asia. 

And in a smaller niche category, Hoosier has developed a tire — based on its existing lines of go-kart tires — for the single-wheel Monoride hoverboards that have become quite popular. 

The firm discovered riders were buying Hoosier go-kart tires as replacements for their OE tires, but those tires were designed for very different purposes, Burfien said, so the company decided to tweak the product to make it applicable.