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Created on Wednesday, 17 October 2012 10:31

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• Camburg Racing wins second BITD race in class 6100.

• Macrae Glass to wrap up class 8000 championship with a start at Henderson.

Fort Mill, SC – October 17, 2012.  Team GT invaded the Arizona desert this past weekend for Best In The Desert’s (BITD) Blue Water Desert Challenge.  In a two-day event, Team GT methodically tackled the 25-mile loop course filled with deep silt, rocks, and plenty of other challenges along the way.  In a new truck that’s only been raced once before, Camburg Racing was able to maneuver through the pitfalls of the Parker, AZ desert to capture their second class 6100 win in a row.

“This race went really well for Camburg Racing,” said Jerry Zaiden of Camburg Racing.  “We started off the line with a brand new high-tech truck.  They took us off the line but Jerry (Whelchel) was able to pass them back about mile nine and we ran in front the rest of the day.  On day two we got off the line better but towards the end of lap one, we got into a bunch of dust and overshot a turn and got stuck.  This set us back a bit but we came back to win.  It was a flawless day.  No flat tires, the engine ran perfectly, everything was just perfect.”

Camburg, along with other Team GT members, navigated the hot, dry loop course three times each day.  With no rain and very little wind, dust continued to be an issue as the weekend wore on.

“The dust is really thick here.”  Zaiden continued, “There’s not a lot of wind and this course is really rough, it’s extremely challenging.  It’s what we know Parker to be.”

The desert proved to be extremely defiant for General Tire ambassador Mikey Childress who on lap one of the first day found himself flipping through the desert compliments of a hidden deep hole.  Childress’ team worked to put him back on track on day two but to the surprise of many….Childress attacked the deep, silty desert with no spare tire.  While sore, Childress had no major injuries and competed on day two completing all three laps never needing a spare tire.

“It was a pretty bold move,” said Childress at the finish line.  “I know my General tires are durable and I felt comfortable that the tires would hold up with no problem and they did.  No flats.”

In addition to Camburg standing atop the podium, Kent Kroeker and Macrae Glass posted podium finishes in the 8000 class finishing second and third respectively.  Glass’ finish put him in position to seal up the 2012 BITD 8000 class championship with a start in Henderson in December.

“You start a season out and you want to win some races and you dream of a championship but it’s so far down the road,” said Glass upon crossing the finish line on Sunday.  “As the year goes on things start shaping up and you’ve got to be a little more patient.  For example, I don’t take big risks passing in the dust being very mindful that General Tire and KC Highlights, they like championships.  I like race wins but you have to marry those two things early on and we’re very thankful to be at the finish line and to have almost won another championship for General Tire.”

Team GT will now prepare for the final BITD race of the 2012 season in Henderson, NV.  Which according to Zaiden is very similar to Parker.

“Henderson is very similar in terrain to Parker except its more hard-pack, it’s not as sandy and silty,” commented Zaiden.  “There are a couple dry lake beds out there and a lot more rocks.  It’s a very rough course still.  Our set up will be the same except gearing in the truck, we’ll change to a higher gear ratio but other than that the truck will stay the same.”

For more information on Best In The Desert visit: www.bitd.com.

For more information on Camburg Engineering visit: www.camburg.com.

Fans can join in the conversation on Twitter (@teamGT), Facebook (facebook.com/generaltire) and YouTube (youtube.com/teamgeneraltire).

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