Start your engines: Bridgestone’s guayule tire to make racing debut

In Nashville, tires made from natural rubber extracted from a Southwest US desert shrub will make their racing debut at the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in August. 

Dubbed Firestone Firehawk, the material for the tires has been under development by Bridgestone for more than a decade. “The introduction of guayule natural rubber to America’s preeminent open-wheel racing series speaks to the confidence we have in the technology and its promise as a scalable, sustainable and domestic source of our industry’s most vital raw material,” says Nizar Trigui, Chief Technology Officer and Group President, Solutions Businesses, Bridgestone Americas, Inc. 

The tires will also be promoted later this month at the Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge, which is a test of pit crew performance and doesn’t involve racing. 

Guayule is a heat tolerant, woody shrub that thrives in America’s desert southwest. Bridgestone believes guayule rubber has the potential to have a lasting economic impact, while reducing the energy and other environmental impacts associated with the transportation of rubber sourced overseas.