The special tire for the 100th Indy 500 features the names of all previous winners. [Allan Brewer Photo]
By Allan Brewer
The 100th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing has brought many novelty items to the race-going public over the last year: a centennial commemorative bottle of milk, a 300-page program, a new iPhone app, and (in case you missed it) a brand new racing tire for use only at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
If you’ve ever won the Indianapolis 500 while riding on Firestones, your name is now on the side of a very special tire circulating the Brickyard from now until the end of the month of May. Your likeness and name is still engraved on the side of the Borg Warner trophy, too, so don’t worry too much about being forgotten anytime soon.
Firestone announced their latest iteration of the Firehawk racing rubber way back on February 19th of 2016, at the 100-day mark prior to the Indy 500. The special edition tire has bright red sidewall markings of the brand-name as well as every man’s name who has won at IMS using Firestone tires in this most special of automobile races. In all, that number stands at 66 spanning back to Ray Harroun in the first 500 in 1911 and up to the current champion Juan Pablo Montoya in 2015.
The tire’s unique appearance is further refined by the red “F-shield” emblems on its outboard surface, and the 100th Running logo created by the Speedway to commemorate the century mark. The winners’ names are listed in order from Harroun forward along the sidewall in high-contrast white ink and stand off from the black rubber in great definition up close.
Firestone has been working on the design and construction of the tire since last August when it conducted a private tire test at IMS. Intended not only to look good, but to improve driver feel from the surface of the track through the steering wheel, the new tire incorporates left-side and right-side specifications in compound and construction. For example, the right front tire on an IndyCar is tweaked to withstand wear and last longer; while the left rear tire has both a new heat-dispersing compound built-in and greater grip than the previous tire.
Lisa Boggs, head of Bridgestone Americas Motorsports said, “From the beginning Harvey Firestone believed in competition in motorsports and the Indianapolis 500 has always been our company’s showplace for innovation and technology. We are proud to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime event.”
Dale Harrigle, chief engineer on the project added, “The tire is optimized for the most grueling 500 miles of racing that is in keeping with Firestone’s century-long commitment to being the best today and better still tomorrow.”
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