Nitto Tire Sponsored Teams Dominate 2012 KING OF THE HAMMERS

Nitto Tire Sponsored Team Conquers Brutal 4x4 Desert Race With Fourth & Fifth Place Finishes

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Feb 14, 2012, 08:08 ET

CYPRESS, Calif., Feb. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Nitto Tire sponsored teams, Crush Motorsports and Healy Racing not only finished but crushed the competition with impressive fourth and Fifth place finishes in the toughest 4x4 desert race ever, King of the Hammers. With more than seven hours of driving through sand, hard packed rock trails, vertical rock walls and ledges and all-out high speed runs, nothing comes close to the King of the Hammers race. While less than half of all participants even finish, this year Nitto Tire teams, Crush Motorsports led by Derek West and Healy Racing led by Loren Healy made great runs with expert driving, specially tuned vehicles and the specifically designed 40x13.50R17, Trail Grappler K-Spec tires.

"We are so proud of our race teams for finishing such a brutal race," said Tim Coltey, Marketing and Events Specialist for Nitto Tires. "Our team's performance and contribution to this success starts before even the race began. Our team's collective input was what enabled the expedited development of the Trail Grappler K-spec tires. Given the challenges and constraints that we were faced with, we are extremely proud to finish at fourth and fifth place without any failures."

"It was another challenging race," said Derek West, of Team Crush Motorsports. "However, the unflappable support of our sponsors enabled our team to perform at our utmost best and deliver the results that we knew we would achieve."

Nitto Tire Teams:

CRUSH MOTORSPORTS – Driver: Derek West – 4th place, 07:20:24

Derek West from Springfield, MO came out to Johnson Valley once a year to tackle the King of the Hammers. Driving an Ultra 4 Rock Racer built by Jimmy's 4x4, West was able to complete the entire race even with a GPS malfunction early in the race where he lost course and had to play catch up with the race leaders. After fixing the GPS problem, West was able to make good time and end up finishing the race in fourth place and with an amazing zero tire failures.

HEALY RACING – Driver: Loren Healy – 5th place, 07:22:05

Healy, places in the top five after starting 94^th in a 136 total competitors. Healy was able to not only catch up from behind but surpass numerous drivers to cross the finish line in 6^th place but 5^th overall with a corrected time. Healy also experienced zero tire failures throughout the race.

Nitto Tire was pleased with the results of their teams at this year's race. Plans for next year have already begun as the winners pack up and make the journey back home. For more information on Nitto Tires and its King of the Hammers race teams please visit: www.nittotire.com. Pictures and video from the event can also be found on Nitto Tire's facebook page at http://on.fb.me/wNUgde

About Nitto Tire

Nitto Tire (www.nittotire.com) develops performance tires for all uses, including racing, off-road and street. Using state-of-the-art manufacturing and testing facilities in both Japan and the United States – Nitto provides innovative and high-quality performance tires for the most demanding automotive enthusiasts. For more information about Nitto or its products, visit the company's web site or contact the company directly. Nitto is a registered trademark of Nitto Tire U.S.A. Inc., located at 5665 Plaza Drive, Ste. 250, Cypress, Calif., 90630.

Media Contact: Irving Der
Rogers & Cowan
310-854-8194
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SOURCE Nitto Tire