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This press release just came across my desk, thought you might want to know how cool the women of wheeling are. Heidi Steele did it again. The Yokohama Tire Corporation-sponsored off-road racer captured her second consecutive SCORE class championship in style, by winning the tough 42nd annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in Ensenada, Mexico, November 19-22.
Steele, who along with her team of Rene Bruger and Jamie Campbell, finished the 672.85- mile race in 20 hours, 30 minutes and 22 seconds. The win – the second in the 1000 (she won it in 2005) – also clinched her second SCORE title in two years. Last year, the San Clemente, California-based racer finished second in the 1000 but won the Class 7SX mid-size truck class.
This time she won the Class 6 title, once again driving a Ford Ranger fitted with off-the-shelf Yokohama Geolandar M/T+® tires.
“Repeating as champion is very difficult,” said Steele, “but I have a great team, great sponsors like Yokohama and a great husband who really helps and supports me. This is a satisfying win for all of us.”
Heidi’s husband is off-road racing legend and TV announcer Cameron Steele, who finished the Baja 1000 in 8th place in the Trophy Truck class and 11th overall for all Baja competitors. Cameron handled the rugged terrain in his 800-horsepower Geiser Brothers Chevrolet truck, mounted with specially- engineered 37-inch Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S® R tires.
Last season, Steele etched her name in off-road history by being the first woman to win two major truck championships in one season – the Best in the Desert and SCORE. She also was named Dirt Sports magazine’s 2008 Driver of the Year, becoming the first female to win the coveted award.
“Heidi did it again,” said Mark Chung, Yokohama director, corporate strategy and planning, “and I’m not surprised. She’s a driven competitor who likes to win. Congratulations to her and the crew for another championship season.”
Now celebrating its 40th anniversary in the United States, Yokohama Tire Corporation is the North American manufacturing and marketing arm of Tokyo, Japan-based The Yokohama Rubber *** Ltd., a global manufacturing and sales company of premium tires since 1917. Servicing a network of more than 4,500 points of sale in the U.S., Yokohama Tire Corporation is a leader in technology and innovation. The company’s complete product line includes the dB Super E-spec™ - the world’s first tire to use orange oil to reduce petroleum – as well as tires for high-performance, light truck, passenger car, commercial truck and bus, and off-the-road mining and construction applications. For more information on Yokohama’s extensive product line, visit www.yokohamatire.com
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