Bridgestone-shod Riders Take Wins at Opening Supercross

NASHVILLE, TENN. (January 6, 2009) – On Saturday, January 3, Bridgestone-shod Josh Grant took his first ever victory in a premier-class Supercross main event. It was also the first victory for the Joe Gibbs race team, operating as JGRMX Toyota/Yamaha.

As expected, the opening main event at Anaheim stadium appeared to be a battle between reigning Supercross Champion Chad Reed and former Supercross and reigning Motocross Champion James Stewart, who were both riding on Bridgestone brand tires. Meanwhile, making the most of a good start, Grant had positioned himself in a podium-placing position behind the two champions. When a racing incident caused the leaders to tangle and go down, the JGRMX Toyota/Yamaha rider capitalized on their misfortune and raced to victory.

Meanwhile in the Supercross Lites class, Jake Weimer, riding a Bridgestone-shod Monster Energy/Pro- Circuit Kawasaki took the win, with teammate Ryan Morais taking second place. Ryan Dungey riding a Bridgestone-shod Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki came in third, giving Bridgestone a sweep of the 250 class podium.

“We are very pleased with the results from the opening event” said Doug Schopinsky, who oversees Bridgestone tire development for the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series. “It’s great to see Josh and the JGRMX Toyota/Yamaha race team earn their first victory. Track conditions were quite good tonight, our pre-season testing and development was put to the test elevating Bridgestone shod machines to 5 of 6 podium positions.”

“Both class winners tonight were extremely happy, with podium comments complimenting their tires’ performance,” continued Schopinsky. “The hard to intermediate soil Bridgestone M603/M604 tires we used for the Anaheim race are built from the same platform and molds as the M603/M604 which are available at local dealerships and retail outlets. We now look forward to next weekend’s event and continued success in Phoenix AZ.”

About Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations:
Nashville, Tenn.-based Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) is a business unit of Bridgestone Americas, Inc., whose parent company, Bridgestone Corporation, is the world's largest tire and rubber company. Reporting into the BATO business unit are the company's Latin American tire operations, the U.S. and Canadian consumer tire businesses and the U.S. and Canadian commercial tire businesses. BATO develops, manufactures and markets Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires. The business unit is focused on retail, wholesale and original equipment markets, supplying passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off road, motorcycle, agricultural and other tires to its customers in the Americas. In addition, through its Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions unit, retreading customers have access to industry-leading research and development, manufacturing, marketing and sales expertise, providing them with a total tire solution.