Robby Gordon and Toyo Tires Win the Baja 1000

PRESS RELEASE - November 17, 2006

ENSENADA, MEXICO – Early this morning, Robby Gordon Won the Baja 1000 while providing a historic first-ever Baja 1000 Victory for Toyo Tires®. Piloting his Red Bull Racing / Toyo Tires® Chevy CK1500 pickup shod with 37X13.50R17 Open Country M/T™ tires, Gordon drove the first 725-miles of the race before handing his leading truck over to Andy McMillin to complete the final leg of this ultimate off-road classic. Andy Grider served as navigator for this winning effort which took some 19-1/2 hours to complete. (Gordon and Grider are paired as driver/navigator for the upcoming Dakar™ race in January in a Hummer H3 equipped with Toyo’s Open Country M/T™ tires.)

Today’s victory makes Gordon a three-time winner of the Baja 1000, and is the first for Andy McMilian. According to Gordon, “I started with Toyo one year ago at the Baja 1000, and the improvements that they have made on their tires and the dedication that they have shown to the program has allowed us to be able to pull off an overall victory for them… which I am pretty proud of. It’s something that we set out to do a year ago when we built this relationship. It was to be able to win races, and we have won the Parker 400 for them, we won Terrible’s Cup for them, and now we won the Baja 1000 overall, so they got three great victories under their belt this year.”

To make Gordon’s drive even more remarkable, he immediately flew to Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida to practice the same day for the FORD 400 NASCAR® NEXTEL Cup championship final. According to Steve Hutchinson, Senior Director of Marketing, Toyo Tire (U.S.A.) Corporation, “Today, Robby Gordon has demonstrated why he is one of the greatest race drivers ever. We are proud of our association with Robby and for Toyo Tires to have won the legendary Baja 1000.”

To learn more about Toyo Tires® and of Robby Gordon competing with the Open Country M/T™, log on to toyo.com. During 2006, Toyo Tire (U.S.A.) Corporation celebrates its 40th Anniversary. Toyo manufactures and distributes a complete line of high performance and original equipment replacement tires for passenger car, light truck, commercial truck, bus, off-road and construction applications.

# # #