Lee O” Donnell And Steven Federico Gives Hankook Tires Its First Podium Finish

The PRO-Light teammates of Lee O” Donnell and Steven Federico, gave Hankook Tires its first podium finishes, in its first off-road event, competing in the Lucas Oil World Series of Off-Road Racing (WSORR). The opening weekend of the WSORR season, saw professional and sportsman racers come from all parts of the United States and Canada, to compete on the. 8 mile off-road track at the Steele County Fairgrounds, in southeastern Minnesota.

Among the traveling competitors was Steven Federico, in the 2007 Toyota Tundra Crew Max. As the Official Pit Support Vehicle of Sticker Dude Motorsports, Steven, with his 6” 3” frame, found the reclining second row seating very comfortable, When asked about the ride to Minnesota, Steven replied, “ I was all setup, comfortable and relaxed, “. No driving for me! “

In Round One, Lee O” Donnell in his #23 Invisible Glass P. F. Chang’s Hankook Tire Nissan Frontier, ran in the lead pack the entire race, ultimately finishing in third place. Teammate Steven Federico drove his #24 Toyota Tacoma, to a well fought sixth place, after coming out of the first turn dead last in the fourteen truck field.

Afterwards Lee O” Donnell commented, “ After practice I was pretty excited how well the Hankook Tires hooked up with the race surface. I was fairly confident that we would have a solid finish, if we could come out of the first turn clean. The Hankook tires allowed me to accomplish that and get on the podium. “

Not to be out done by his teammate, Steven grabbed the early lead in Round Two. On lap 5, the #24 experienced an intermittent power steering problem, slightly slowing his race pace. At the checkered flag, the #24 Invisible Glass P. F. Chang” s Hankook Tire Toyota Tacoma can home a hard fought second place. This round saw Lee dropped out early, after failing to clear the infield triple jump, causing his #23 Nissan Frontier to go end over end. The damage to the truck was terminal, but fortunately Lee walked away without serious injury.

“ I had a second row start, because WSORR inverts the top eight finishers from the previous race, “ remarked Steven Federico. “ I knew from yesterday, that the Hankooks could get me the holeshot, and the tires were just awesome. Two solid finishes for the #24 this weekend is a great way to start the season. “

The third member of Sticker Dude Motorsports, Luke Zoetmulder, competed in a Toyota powered Super Buggy. This was Luke” s first start in the Super Buggy division, as well as his first time driving his #942 Probst-Design single seater, in actual competition.

Round One saw Luke trying to overcome several new car gremlins, which prevented him from getting a good rhythm on the track. This attributed to the #942 going end over end, while trying to clear the infield triple jump. Fortunately, Luke was only sore and was able to walk away from the incident.

The crew worked through the night and into Sunday morning to get the Super Buggy ready for Round Two. Luke was able to complete the race, finishing in tenth place, and getting more experience in the” Formula One” division of off-road racing.

In recent years, other tire companies have entered the field of off-road racing, looking to compete with the established tire brands in the industry. This has been an uphill battle for some. Hankook Tire came to the world of dirt, prepared, as Sticker Dude Motorsports came home with two podium finishes on the opening weekend of WSORR Tour 2007.

Special thanks, for all the support at the track this weekend, to Jeff Koehler, Hankook Motorsports Director, and Mark Hansen, president of Vehicle Dynamics, as well as Chris Hansen, Tim McNulty, Steve Krieman, and Kevin Probst.

All three Sticker Dude Motorsport vehicles compete on Hankook DynaPro MT tires. The Dynapro MT RT03 is a rugged tire designed for “true off-road drivers. “ The “V” shaped tread blocks are tapered for better grip in mud or sand and you should see them perform in snow. There are “ejectors” built into the tread grooves to prevent stones from penetrating. Specifically designed shoulders keep dirt from building up and to help prevent damage from impacts.

Hankook Tire America Corp., with domestic headquarters in Wayne, N.J., distributes and markets a complete line of passenger radials, high performance tires, light truck, SUV and 4x4 tires, as well as medium truck and bus tires sold throughout the U. S. and Puerto Rico. From a series of regional offices, Hankook oversees 500 independent dealers with more than 3,000 sales locations nationwide. Hankook also operates state of the art research and development facilities in the U. S. and overseas.