03/28/2008

General Tire will be the title sponsor of the new General Tire Mint 400 Race when the classic desert contest returns on March 29, 2008.

Originally created in 1969, the “Del Webb Mint 400 Desert Rally" as the first race was known, ran between the Mint Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas, and its sister hotel, The Sahara Tahoe. It was a demanding 400-mile course, with a lucrative purse, and over the years it attracted not only the best drivers in off-road racing, but also a number of celebrities.

Then in 1988, the Mint Hotel was sold and the historic race disappeared.

"Coincidentally, 1988 was also the last year General Tire competed in off-road – until today," said Travis Roffler, director of marketing, General Tire. "With this sponsorship, General Tire has come full circle. We're here to show the off-road world that General Tire IS BACK! This is just the first of many more years of desert racing in Southern Nevada under the General Tire Mint 400 name."

The new General Tire Mint 400 will take off from the El Cortez Hotel & Casino and wind through an arduous 95-mile lap course to the finish line some 16 hours later.

General Tire has 'unleashed the fury' in off-road competitive performance with its Grabber competition tires as General Tire powers into the 2008 off-road racing season.

Designed with a tough, three-ply Duragen™-reinforced body construction to stand up to the rigors of off-road conditions, the Grabber also features a newly-developed competition-specific tread compound. General Tire offers two distinct tread designs for different types of competitive conditions. In addition, the Grabber name and General Tire logo are prominently featured on the sidewall in red and white letters. The Grabber competition tires are designed in size 37x 12.50R17 for class 1, 7S, 7 unlimited, 8 and trophy truck.

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