TEAM FALKEN SCORES FIRST WIN WITH SAVVY OFF ROAD IN KING OF THE HAMMERS’ EVERY MAN OFF-ROAD EVENT

FONTANA, CA – Falken Tire, a popular high performance choice for driving enthusiasts on pavement and off-road, continues to balance its accomplishments throughout the motorsports field by claiming its first off-road victory.  Partnered with Savvy Off Road, the team took first place in the Stock Class in the Smittybilt Every Man Challenge at the Ultra4 Racing King of the Hammers event on February 5, 2012.  According to the rules, teams competing in either the Stock or Stock Modified classes must run stock, DOT-approved tires.  Savvy Off Road ran Falken WildPeak A/T Tires, sized 35x12.50 R15.

The inaugural Every Man Challenge was created as a partner event to the flourishing King of Hammers (KOH) race, allowing off-road enthusiasts a chance to race their stock and modified stock vehicles during the dedicated one-day off-road race.  Savvy Off Road competed in a stock class Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, which started in 33^rd position.  Running a stock engine and transmission platform, Driver John Currie (co-owner of Currie Enterprises) and Savvy Off Road car owner/co-driver Gerald Lee quickly passed 30 cars and ran in third place for the majority of the race, competing on much of the same desert terrain as the KOH event, before catching the race leaders to take the win at the 77-mile end.  Currie and Lee completed the course in less than three hours.

“This is an important victory for Falken Tires because it’s obviously our first in off-road competition, but also because it verifies the performance capabilities of the WildPeak A/T, which is our highly regarded all-terrain tire,” said Nestor Cabrera, Team Falken’s Off-Road Supervisor.

“We continue to ramp up our efforts and associate Falken Tire with winners in every corner of the off-road community, as well as other quadrants of motorsports,” stated Nick Fousekis, Falken’s Director of Motorsports Marketing and Events. “We want to expand our presence in all fields to show Falken is a strong competitor and manufacturer.”

For the main KOH event, scheduled this coming weekend, February 8-10, Falken will field a vehicle in the Ultra4 Class to be driven by Falken Vice President of Marketing Andrew Hoit, as well as support Race Prep Racing, the husband-and-wife-managed team that will also compete in the same class.

Both King of The Hammers and the Every Man Challenge take place on public lands in Johnson Valley, CA, near the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Center located in Twenty Nine Palms.  The KOH race has evolved from 12 teams to more than 150 teams competing before thousands of fans both live and online.