General Tire Posts Historic Wins on Debut of New Grabber Competition Tires in Inaugural...

General Tire Posts Historic Wins on Debut of New Grabber Competition Tires in
Inaugural Run of New General Tire Mint 400

LAS VEGAS, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- General Tire rewrote the history books
this weekend, bringing home two wins and an awe-inspiring third-place podium
finish in the debut of its new Grabber(TM) competition tires at the inaugural
run of the new General Tire Mint 400 off-road race.
When the dust finally settled, Kent Kroeker of KORE Racing had piloted his
General Tire Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 to a win in the Stock Full class; and renowned
driver Mike Horner of Synergy Motorsports captured the 1st place win from an
accomplished group of class 8 drivers in his General Tire Toyota Tundra.
And in perhaps the most-watched, biggest finish of all, PCI Racing's Scott
Steinberger and Mike Childress powered their General Tire Ford F-150 Trophy
Truck to a victorious 3rd Place podium finish in this grueling 400-mile 4-lap
course.
"This has been an unbelievably rewarding day for General Tire. No other
off-road competition tire has ever debuted with such astounding success --
it's truly a day for the history books," said Travis Roffler, General Tire's
director of marketing. "These remarkable drivers truly owned the course
today, and we are very proud to have them in the General Tire family. These
three wins will cement this tire's place in the top echelon of off-road
competition."
"This race was incredible. The course was challenging, but the tires
hooked up great," stated Scott Steinberger of PCI Racing. "This truck was
dialed in for this course and we are stoked to be bringing home a 3rd place
win from the legendary General Tire Mint 400 race with our new General Grabber
tires."
In addition to the PCI win, Team 71 with driver Rick Johnson had an
impressive finish of 5th place in the Trophy Truck/Unlimited class.
"This is KORE's first Mint 400 win and we couldn't be more pleased with
the truck, my crew and of course these incredible tires." said Kent Kroeker,
KORE Racing. "The Mint 400 course is difficult and we are amazed at the abuse
the General Grabber competition tires took without any problems."
"I have always been a fan of the Mint 400 race and to win such an intense
course is a true testament to my team, my vehicle, and all my sponsors," said
Mike Horner, Synergy Motorsports.
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.
The new General Tire Mint 400 started from the El Cortez Hotel & Casino
and wound through an arduous 95-mile lap course to the finish line some 16
hours later.
General Tire has indeed '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(TM)-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.
For additional media information, visit http://www.ctnamedia.com.
General Tire is part of Continental Tire North America, Inc.
(http://www.generaltire.com). CTNA, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a
company of Germany-based Continental AG. With targeted annual sales of more
than euro 26.4 billion ($40 billion US) for 2008, the Continental Corporation
is one of the top automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake
systems, systems and components for the powertrain and chassis,
instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and
technical elastomers, the corporation contributes towards enhanced driving
safety and protection of the global climate. Continental is also a competent
partner in networked automobile communication. Today, the corporation employs
approximately 150,000 people at nearly 200 locations in 36 countries.
SOURCE General Tire

Dana Zamalloa, +1-704-583-8165, dana.zamalloa@conti-na.com, or Mariellen
Fagan, +1-330-494-6999, ext. 201, mfagan@crowlinc.com, both for General Tire