Hoosier is official tire of IMCA for 19th season

LAKEVILLE, Ind. – The partnership between the world’s largest manufacturer of racing tires and the world’s largest automotive racing sanctioning body officially marks its 19th season in 2024.

Hoosier Racing Tire of Lakeville, Ind., makes and supplies the official tire used in sanctioned competition by seven IMCA divisions.

IMCA Southern SportMods have run exclusively on Hoosiers since that division crowned its first champion in 2004. Hoosier has since been the official tire for IMCA Modified, Late Model, Sprint Car, Stock Car and Northern SportMods since the transitional 2006 season.

Hoosier has been part of the tire package for the Sprints since IMCA began its association with RaceSaver in 2012. STARS Mod Lites were also on Hoosiers when they became sanctioned by IMCA three years ago.

“This has been a long and successful partnership and I think at the top of the list for reasons why has been open communication and transparency,” said Hoosier Vice President of Sales Paul Menting. “This all started with open discussion. IMCA shared their needs and their competitors’ needs in a tire product, and we helped (IMCA President) Brett (Root) and IMCA understand how Hoosier could achieve those goals.”

“This partnership has worked because we’ve been so closely aligned. It has been win, win, win,” Menting added. “The competitors have to win, IMCA has to win and Hoosier has to win for this to continue.”

Founded in 1957, Hoosier manufactures a wide line of tires for high performance use, available from 13 domestic distributors, among them Smiley’s Racing Products in Mesquite, Texas, title sponsor of IMCA’s Southern SportMod division.

“One of the best things about our association with Hoosier is their popularity within the racing industry,” said Root. “We have added both RaceSaver Sprint Cars and STARS Mod Lites as sanctioned divisions in the past 12 years and both were already on Hoosiers.”

“That meant we did not have to mandate drivers in either division spend money to buy and run on a new tire,” he continued. “The fact that Hoosier makes so many different tires for different divisions of race cars makes them more efficient and that ultimately benefits drivers.”

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce shares that lofty opinion with IMCA and its member drivers, naming Hoosier-manufactured tires “The coolest thing made in Indiana” last December.

“I don’t think IMCA as an organization would be as widespread or as popular across the United States without this partnership with Hoosier,” Root said. “It has allowed us to make inroads in parts of the country where Hoosier was already the tire of choice for tracks and drivers and as a result, we have gained new sanctions and new members in divisions running on Hoosier tires.”