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Falken Tires Tears Through Great American Shortcourse Series At Glen Helen Raceway Taking Six Podiums

SAN BERNARDINO, CA – Falken Tires lit up local track Glen Helen Raceway this past weekend for the Great American Shortcourse (GAS) Rounds 7 and 8, coming away with a total of six podiums: three firsts, one second and two thirds.

Mini Open Racer Brian Cannon qualified first for his Saturday race that combined his class with Mini Stock, Open V8 and Ultra4, turning in a 55.5-second lap time. Running on Falken Wildpeak A/T3W tires, he scored first on Saturday, then duplicated the results for Sunday’s race, qualifying first and winning again.

“Like shampoo. Rinse, lather, repeat,” Cannon said, smiling. “The Falken Wildpeaks were just unbeatable this weekend; they provided the perfect balance to our race effort.”

Pro Buggy Driver Matt Brister qualified second for his Saturday race, just two-tenths off the pole. Deciding to make some mechanical adjustments to his vehicle’s sway bar to assist with the rougher areas of the track, he went ahead to qualify for Sunday’s race and proved to be the fastest entry by a half-second over second place.

“Clearly, making the sway bar looser was what we needed,” Brister stated. “In the afternoon, we started the Saturday race on the front row outside. We got pinched in turn 1, dropping to third, and before the race was half over, I got squeezed again, and moved backwards, ending up fifth. It took me a full two laps to make my way back to a podium, in third, and I ran out of time to move any further forward.”

By Sunday, Brister decided to increase tire pressure in his Falken Wildpeak A/T3W tires as his only change.

“We started on pole, played to our strengths, began the race slowly and early, maintaining our lead,” Brister noted. “By the halfway mark, we were about a straightaway ahead of second. Knowing we had to protect our position, I started increasing speed and protected the inside of each corner to avoid any further pinching. Being able to anticipate further advances kept us in first and we stayed there all the way to the checkered flag. Great weekend for everyone and so glad my Falken Wildpeaks can handle everything I throw at ‘em.”

Finally, Pro 2 Driver Troy Cox qualified second on Friday for Saturday’s race and then qualified third on Saturday for Sunday’s race. Despite battling food poisoning over the weekend, Cox ran well and his Falken Wildpeak A/T3W tires gave him the forward and side bites he needed to work through the field to take second on Saturday. On Sunday, despite multiple attempts to push through the top two, he maintained his position and took third place on the podium.

“It was very exciting and definitely satisfying watching our trio of Falken drivers compete at Glen Helen,” declared Doug Fletcher, Falken’s Supervisor, Light Truck and Off-Road Events. “Once again, GAS put together an extremely well-run program attracting lots of competitors and producing fantastic racing. Glen Helen Raceway, being so close to Falken’s headquarters, makes this a ‘home track’ and we had a good turnout of fans cheering on our drivers. Coming away with three firsts, a second and two thirds is a very nice way to say, ‘Falken was here and we made some noise.’”

The final rounds of the 2022 season, 9 and 10, will return to San Bernardino County (SBC) Fairgrounds in Victorville, CA on November 12-13, 2022.