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Firestone Dubs the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Season the ‘Most Sustainable Season of Motorsports Ever’

Firestone Dubs the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Season the ‘Most Sustainable Season of Motorsports Ever’

  • Firestone Firehawk race tires made with sustainable, domestically sourced guayule rubber will serve as the alternative tire for all five street races in the upcoming 2023 NTT INDYCAR® SERIES season.
  • Bridgestone’s Advanced Tire Production Center, manufacturer of all Firestone Firehawk race tires, has received ISCC PLUS certification for traceability and transparency of sustainable raw materials.
  • The company will utilize recycled monomers1, made with recycled plastics, in all its race tires for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500. The recycled content of the monomer is allocated using the ISCC mass balance approach.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (February 23, 2023) – Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) announced today major strides have been made during the off-season to incorporate more sustainable and bio-circular materials into the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, highlighting the advancement of three key initiatives that will make the upcoming season the most sustainable to date for America’s premier open-wheel racing series.


As the series’ exclusive tire supplier, Bridgestone will feature Firestone Firehawk race tires made with rubber derived from the guayule desert shrub as the alternate tire in all five street circuits of the 17-race season, a four-race bump from the season prior. Additionally, the majority of race tires used this season will be manufactured at the energy-efficient Advanced Test Production Center (ATPC), which has now received International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS recognition for its transparency and traceability of sustainable raw materials. Finally, the company will utilize ISCC mass balance certified synthetic rubber1 made with recycled plastics in all its race tires for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500.


“We are driving sustainability in every area of our business, and we’re thrilled to be advancing guayule and other sustainable practices in America’s premier open-wheel racing series,” said Paolo Ferrari, CEO of Bridgestone Americas. “Firestone has a tremendous legacy of innovation and performance in racing, which we will continue to build upon as we move into this new era of cleaner, safer and more sustainable mobility on and off the track.”

Guayule Race Tires for 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES

The Firestone Firehawk race tire will be featured as the alternative tire at the Firestone Grand Prix (March 5) in St. Petersburg, Fla., Streets of Long Beach (April 16), Streets of Detroit (June 4), Streets of Toronto (July 16) and the Music City Grand Prix (Aug 6) in Nashville, Tenn. For the 2023 season, Bridgestone will supply more than 1900 tires using a sidewall material made exclusively with rubber derived from the guayule woody desert shrub grown on the company’s own farm in Eloy, Arizona. The initiative builds on the 2022 competitive debut of guayule race tires at the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville last August

Creating a Bioeconomy with Guayule

Bridgestone launched its guayule research initiative in 2012 when it broke ground on a guayule processing and research center in Mesa, Arizona. Today, the company continues to operate the Mesa facility in addition to a 281 acre guayule farm in Eloy, Arizona. To date, Bridgestone has invested more than $100 million in its efforts to commercialize guayule. Bridgestone is also the recipient of multiple U.S. government research grants for guayule research and development, including from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (July 2017 and November 2022) and from the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (September 2021).

In August 2022, Bridgestone announced its plans to invest an additional $42 million to establish commercial operations, with additional investment and expansion toward This investment will increase capacity of up to 25,000 additional acres of farmland for planting and harvesting guayule at scale in collaboration and partnership with local U.S. farmers and Native American tribes.

Guayule is part of Bridgestone’s plan to achieve carbon neutrality and make tires from 100% sustainable materials by 2050. The company is targeting commercial production of guayule-derived natural rubber by the end of the decade.

Advanced Tire Production Center with ISCC PLUS Certification

Bridgestone completes its farm to track sustainability initiative by manufacturing all Firestone Firehawk race tires at the newly ISCC PLUS certified ATPC in Akron. The certification was awarded to the facility on November 2, 2022 for its transparency and traceability of sustainable raw materials including bio, bio-circular and circular-based synthetic rubber1. The ATPC is the fourth Bridgestone facility in North America to be awarded the certification , behind the Aiken County Passenger/Light Truck Plant and Polymer Engineering Pilot Center in Akron. Sustainable practices in its manufacturing facilities are a critical element of Bridgestone’s sustainability commitments, including its aim to achieve carbon neutrality and tires made with 100% sustainable materials by 2050.

ISCC PLUS certified Circular Butadiene* for Tire Production

This year at the Indy 500, all race tires – for practice, qualifying and race– will incorporate ISCC recycled-attributed butadiene1, a monomer produced with recycled post-consumer plastic waste, to create the synthetic rubber in the tire1. The new monomer will replace the fossil-based monomer and will be supplied by Shell, the race series’ official fuel, oil and lubricant sponsor.

The acceleration of the company’s sustainable solution technologies for the 2023 INDYCAR season aligns with the Bridgestone E8 Commitment, which establishes eight values starting with the letter “E” to solidify Bridgestone’s commitment to a more sustainable world. Increasing the utilization of the Firestone Firehawk race tire with guayule, the ISCC PLUS certification and the new sustainable monomer are examples of the values “Emotion,” “Ecology” and “Energy.”

Firestone Race Notes: The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio

Firestone Race Notes: Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

TIRE TRACKER: LONG BEACH

Firestone is supplying more than 1,400 race tires for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Each entry receives the following allocation of Firestone Firehawk race tires:

  • Primary (black sidewall): 6 sets per entry*
  • Alternate (red sidewall): 4 sets per entry
  • Rain (gray sidewall): 5 sets per entry

*Does not include rookie set

ENGINEER’S INSIGHT

“As we return to the streets of Long Beach, our Firestone Race Tire Engineering team will bring the same race-proven tire technology used at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The two street courses have a lot of similarities with their mix of concrete and asphalt surfaces. Each entry will receive tires that can deliver a balance of durability, grip, and performance across a wide range of track surfaces and conditions.” 

– Cara Adams, Director of Race Tire Engineering and Production, Bridgestone Americas Motorsports

FIRESTONE FAST FACT

Firestone will supply more than 1,400 Firestone Firehawk race tires for the 2022 race, almost doubling the more than 850 tires they brought to their first Long Beach race back in 1996 when Firestone only supplied tires to half the field.  Jimmy Vasser won that race on Firestone tires.

FIRESTONE PIT STOP PERFORMANCE AWARD

Team Penske Standing for Acura Grand Prix

2022 Race 2: XPEL 375

  • RACING NEWS
  • SUN MARCH 20, 2022

TIRE TRACKER: TEXAS

Firestone is supplying more than 1,400 race tires for the XPEL 375. Each entry receives an allocation of 11* sets of Firestone Firehawk race tires.

*Does not include rookie set

ENGINEER’S INSIGHT

“Our Firestone Race Tire Engineering team is presented with unique challenges when preparing for oval tracks like Texas Motor Speedway. We must develop tires that can take the load applied to the right-side tires paired with the issue of staggering tire circumference to assist with high-speed cornering. This year the engineering team is bringing a new left-side compound that is more durable than last year, with the same construction as the 2021 left-side tire. The right side is the same compound and construction as the 2021 tire.”

– Cara Adams, Director of Race Tire Engineering and Production, Bridgestone Americas Motorsports

FIRESTONE FAST FACT

Tire stagger is when the right rear tire is larger in diameter than the left rear tire, causing the race car to naturally want to turn left – improving the ability to turn on ovals. Test tire stagger at home by putting a water bottle and a pint glass on their sides. The water bottle is a cylinder with the same circumference top to bottom, making it move straight when rolled vs. a pint glass with a wider circumference at the top than the bottom, making it roll in a circle.

FIRESTONE PIT STOP PERFORMANCE AWARD

Firestone Racing Grand Prix of St Petersburg Standing

Firestone Race Notes: 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500

Firestone Race Notes: 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500

Firestone Race Notes: Iowa INDYCAR 250s

Firestone Race Notes: REV Group Grand Prix at Road America

Firestone Race Notes: Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway

Cara Adams promoted to lead all race tire design, manufacturing and management

Bridgestone Americas Announces Expanded Role for Race Tire Engineering & Production Cara Adams promoted to lead all race tire design, manufacturing and management  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (November 1, 2019) ― Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (Bridgestone) today announced Cara Adams has been named director, race tire engineering & production, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) and Firestone Racing. In this…

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