Nexen Tire Motorsports Makes Top Placements for Racing Season

Nexen Tire Motorsports concluded its 2022 U.S. motorsports program which included top finishes by its teams in both Formula Drift, Championship Off-Road and Ultra4 Off-Road Racing. The tire manufacturer began the 2022 racing season with a goal to strengthen its competitive racing program by supplying several different racing endeavors with its products. In Formula Drift, Nexen said it supplied ultra high-performance tires to high-caliber, championship-contenting teams and in Championship and Ultra4 Off-Road Racing, the company brought its premier mud-terrain tire, Roadian MTX Xtreme off-road tire and its latest all-terrain tire, Roadian ATX, for intense off-road competition.

Formula Drift

The 2022 Formula Drift season commenced in Long Beach, Calif., on April 1-2 and kicked off Nexen’s competitive racing program. According to Nexen, drivers began the season equipped with Nexen’s previous line of drift tires, N’Fera SUR4G Extreme Ultra High-Performance tires. As the year progressed, drivers were supplied with Nexen Tire’s next generation of extreme ultra high-performance tires, N’Fera Sport R. Nexen driver Ken Gushi used his N’Fera Sport R tires to reach the top podium spot with a win in Formula Drift Pro 1’s Round 7: Elevated at the Utah Motorsports Campus in Grantsville, Utah. Gushi also secured a top-ten finish in overall standings, taking eighth place this year, and helping Nexen secure a solid finish in Formula Drift’s Tire Cup standings.

Nexen drivers included:

Ken Gushi
Yves Meyer
Dean Kearney
Jhonnattan Castro
Federico Sceriffo
Ola Jaeger
Trenton Beechum
Joshua C. Reynolds

Championship Off-Road Racing

In September, Chris Van Den Elzen, Nexen driver and team owner of VDE Racing, achieved a world-championship win in Pro Spec at this year’s World Championship Off-Road Races at Crandon International Raceway in Crandon, WI. Elzen won against fellow competitors Easton Sleaper, Gray Leadbetter and Nick Visser. Throughout the year, Elzen had the opportunity to test a handful of off-road and all-terrain tire options from Nexen, eventually settling on the company’s latest all-terrain tire, Roadian ATX. Overall, Elzen was extremely impressed with the quality of his Nexen Tires, attributing that quality to much of his success this year, According to Nexen.

Podium finishes include:

2nd and 3rd at Antigo
1st at Spring Crandon
3rd on both days at ERX
1st at Dirt City
1st and 2nd at Bark River
1st at Fall Crandon

Ultra4 Racing

Last month, Nexen driver Stephen “Woody” Rose Jr. claimed a first-place finish at the Legends of the Fall national finals, becoming the 2022 West Series points champion. Woody, a rookie in the Ultra4 4800 Limited Class, completed this year’s season as the points leader in the West Series with a 110-point lead, earning the regional championship. He and his stepfather built the current race car used in Ultra4 competition, equipped with Nexen’s top-tier off-road tire of choice, Roadian MTX Xtreme Off-Road tires.

Throughout this year’s competition, Woody earned several podium finishes in the 4800 Limited Class, including a first-place finish at Ultra4 Sturgis in Sturgis, S.D.