Press Release –

Yamaha Factory Rider Dustin Nelson captured his third QuadCross Series title aboard his YFZ450R this past weekend at Glen Helen Raceway in Southern California. This is Nelson’s second consecutive Yamaha/ITP QuadCross championship and his first full year of competition on the YFZ450R.

Nelson posted first and second place finishes in respective motos during the final QuadCross event, which earned him the overall victory for the day and enough points for the series championship. Also riding Yamaha YFZ450Rs this season, racers Justin Noss and Jason Dunkleberger finished in third and fourth place respectively, putting three Yamaha’s in the overall top five for the year.

“I’m really happy and excited that all of our hard work paid off in another championship for Yamaha,” Nelson said. “On today’s rough high-speed track, the YFZ450R’s handling and power just shone through.”

“Yamaha congratulates Dustin on another outstanding race season, and we’re excited to see him bring home a third championship aboard a YFZ,” said Steve Nessl, Yamaha’s ATV group marketing manager. “Yamaha is proud to support Nelson and the entire QuadCross series. As a co-title sponsor, we believe the series is an excellent proving ground for the high-performance YFZ450R.”

Nelson has had a long relationship with Yamaha as a test rider and Factory Racer, and assisted in the development of the YFZ450R before it was introduced last fall. He was the first to race the YFZ450R at last year’s QuadCross Finale when he captured the 2008 championship. This year he took four top spots throughout the nine month series, including a win at this weekend’s Glen Helen finale, to close out his championship season.

Nelson’s 2009 season sponsors included Yamaha, Genuine Yamaha Technology Racing (GYTR®) and Yamalube. His 2009 championship winning race quad ran GYTR accessories, made especially for racing and performance enthusiasts, including the cylinder head, performance camshafts, piston kit, fuel controller, high flow air filter, adaptor plate, nerf bars, skid plates, sport front bumper and clutch components.

Press Release –

KTM Motorsports will extend its relationship with Farr Racing Enterprises (FRE) and its three-rider ATV GNCC Team for the 2010 season. The FRE/KTM ATV GNCC Team will consist of defending XC2 champion Josh Kirkland, defending Women’s Champion Angel Atwell and the newest member signing on to compete in the XC1 class Bryan Cook.

The FRE/KTM Team will be led by multi-time ATV champion Tim Farr. “Tim’s experience and expertise racing ATVs led to the development of the current KTM ATV and has helped KTM ATV Team riders win many races, including two championships last year,” remarked KTM Off-Road Team Manager Antti Kallonen. “Needless to say, we are very happy to extend our relationship with such a well decorated and knowledgeable team leader and look forward to a successful year with Tim and his FRE/KTM team for 2010.”

While Josh Kirkland and Angel Atwell will return to the team for their second year on the orange brand, the biggest news comes with the addition of former privateer rider, hailing from North Carolina, Bryan Cook.

The top privateer award winner of 2009 joins the FRE/KTM Team to compete in the highly competitive XC1 class. “I am grateful for this opportunity and excited that my racing has finally paid off and I will have a great machine and team structure for the 2010 season,” stated Cook.

“We have been looking at Bryan for quite some time,” commented Farr. “He is a talented rider that has placed consistently within the top five. Since he has been on his own budget as a privateer for some time, we know with the KTM product and the support of a team behind him his results will improve on the track. We expect to see many podiums from Bryan this next season.”

Press Release –

Building on a winning performance in June at the Baja 500, ITP and parent Carlisle Tire & Wheel Company will be putting their products to the ultimate test at the upcoming Baja 1000.

ITP and Carlisle have partnered with DragonFire Racing to tackle this historic event in a specially prepared Kawasaki Teryx.

The driving team is composed primarily of ITP/Carlisle employees, competing in the UTV Sportsman class. Their car, #1801, will be using ITP’s rugged BajaCross tires mounted on ITP’s new T-9 Pro Mod spun aluminum wheel.

This wheel was developed as a direct result of experience gained in the Baja 500. Additional backing for this entry comes from Black Rock off-road wheels and Ultimax performance belts. A similar car, #1803, is being fielded by the same Team Green Kawasaki DragonFire Racing crew that won the Baja 500. The teams will share pits, equipment and other resources.

This 42nd Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 consists of a rugged 672-mile/1000-kilometer course that starts and finishes in Ensenada and travels much of the northern half of the majestic Baja California peninsula. More than 275 entries are expected, from 34 states and 12 countries.

The motorcycle and ATV classes will start their journey at 6:30 a.m. (Friday, Nov. 20) with the car and truck classes starting at approximately 10:30 a.m., or three hours after the last ATV leaves the line. The UTV Sportsman class will be the last to start, and will certainly have a considerable amount of night driving in store later in the event.

Vehicles will leave in 30-second intervals in the elapsed-time race and the fastest finishers are expected to complete the course in approximately 13 hours. All vehicles will have a 31-hour time limit to become official finishers in the legendary adventure. The ITP/Carlisle #1801 entry will be carrying a GPS tracking system, so the team’s progress can be followed at this web page: http://www.trackinginternational.com/site/score/tracking/.

Pre-race festivities are on Thursday, Nov. 19, including the vastly popular tech and contingency of all vehicles and the SCORE Manufacturer’s Midway, to be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Boulevard Costero in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center.

This year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour NBC Sports special, in association with SCORE and Aura360, for the sixth consecutive year, scheduled to air at 2 p.m. (EST) on Sunday, Dec. 19, on the NBC Television Network. It will also air on a delayed basis outside of the U.S. on ESPN International.

For more information regarding the series, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com .

For more information on ITP’s BajaCross tires, T-9 Pro Mod wheels and the complete line of the brand’s award-winning products, visit www.itptires.com.