Team General Tire Ready to Take on BITD Parker 425

PARKER, AZ – (February 5, 2010) – Team General Tire is ready to kick-off the 2010 season with the Best in the Desert Parker 425 this weekend.

The Parker 425 rolls out Saturday morning from the famed Blue Water Canyon Resort and Casino, and promises to be a heart-stopping contest among the “best of the best” desert racers. Team General Tire will be well represented with BJ Baldwin, Bobby Baldwin, Rick D. Johnson, Ed “Clyde” Stout, Jason Voss and Jerry Zaiden in Trick Truck; and Robert Pickering running Class 6.

“The 2010 desert racing season is shaping up to be a contest of wills and skills, and Team General Tire is primed to take the podium by storm,” said Travis Roffler, director of marketing, General Tire. “We’re now in our third year of desert racing, and the team is really coming together as a force to be reckoned with. We’re looking forward to a stellar race weekend!”

“We’re totally stoked for this race,” said “Ballistic” BJ Baldwin. “We’re going up against some of the best drivers in the desert, but we’re confident that with our skill, and the help of the awesome General Grabber competition tires, we’ll be on the podium Saturday evening.”

New this year, BITD will be broadcasting the event live online. Sponsored by General Tire and Banks Brakes, log onto www.bitd.com and follow the action as it happens. Also, real-time team progress reports will be available during the race at www.twitter.com/teamgt.

General Tire is ‘unleashing the fury’ for a third season of off-road action with the Grabber competition tire. 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 specially-engineered, competition-specific tread compound. 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 37×12.50R17 for class 8 and trophy truck/trick truck and 35×12.50R17 for class 1, 6, 7, 7 S, stock mini and Protruck.

General Tire also has a complete line of Grabber tires for the passenger and light truck market, including the new Grabber DOT-approved off-road tire (to be released later this year); the Grabber HTS, which delivers the perfect synergy of comfort, durability and performance; the Grabber UHP, which sets a whole new standard in performance and ride quality for SUVs, light trucks and crossover vehicles; and Grabber AT2, designed for aggressive all-terrain traction in all weather conditions.

For media information, visit www.ctamedia.com or www.ctamedia.mobi.

For more than 90 years General Tire has offered a complete quality line of ultra-high performance, passenger, light truck, off-road and commercial tires to meet all your needs. General Tire is a proud supporter of Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing, Chili Bowl, Pro-Pulling, Late- Model Dirt Series, Drag Boat Series, Boost Mobile FreestyleMx.com Tour, Spec Tire of Trophylite and Pro Truck. Team GT supports off-road and short course teams including BJ Baldwin, Carl Renezeder, Rick D. Johnson, Jerry Zaiden/Jason Campbell, Jason/Rich Voss, Scott Steinberger, Ed “Clyde” Stout, Ted Hunnicutt, Marc Burnett, Kent Kroeker, Mickey Childress, Carey Hart, Josh Merrell, Robby Woods and Sean Geiser.

General Tire is part of Continental Tire the Americas, LLC. (www.generaltire.com). CTA, based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, is a company of Germany-based Continental AG. With sales exceeding €24 billion in 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. The corporation currently employs approximately 134,000 at nearly 190 locations in 37 countries.