Tire brand
Hoosier
Hoosier Racing Tire is an American racing tire manufacturer founded in 1957 in Lakeville, Indiana, by stock-car driver Robert (Bob) Newton and his wife…
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Brand profile
Hoosier Racing Tire is an American racing tire manufacturer founded in 1957 in Lakeville, Indiana, by stock-car driver Robert (Bob) Newton and his wife Joyce. Focused exclusively on motorsport, the brand designs tires for dirt, oval asphalt, autocross, road course, drag racing, and rally. It has been owned since 2016 by the German group Continental AG.
Positioning: Racing tires exclusively: dirt, oval asphalt, autocross, road course, drag racing.
History
Hoosier Racing Tire was born in 1957 when Bob Newton, a stock-car driver on the short tracks of the Midwest, and his wife Joyce launched a tire-recapping business in a disused horse barn in South Bend, Indiana. Newton was looking for a better-performing rubber compound to get ahead of his competitors; the name "Hoosier"—the nickname for natives of Indiana—and the brand's signature purple color both came from his first race car. In 1962, the Newtons partnered with Mohawk Rubber to produce true purpose-built racing tires. When Mohawk closed in 1978, rather than seeking a new partner, they built their own plant in Plymouth, Indiana: the first facility in the country built specifically and solely to manufacture racing tires. A second plant came on line in 1992 for the production of tubeless radial tires, and in the early 2000s all operations were consolidated into a single integrated complex. After remaining independently owned by the Newton family for nearly six decades, the company was acquired on October 4, 2016, by the German group Continental AG for approximately 155 million dollars. It has since been part of Continental's Specialty Tire business unit, which produces motorsport tires at Plymouth under the Hoosier, Continental, and General Tire brands. Robert Newton died in 2012 and Joyce Newton in 2018. Today billed as the largest racing tire manufacturer in the world, Hoosier employs around 600 people and supplies numerous sanctioned series, including NHRA, NASCAR, ARCA, SCCA, USAC, IMCA, World of Outlaws, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, and the FIA World Rallycross Championship. In Canada, the brand operates no plants; it is present through distributors and retailers specializing in motorsport.
Technologies
Hoosier's expertise rests first and foremost on formulating rubber compounds tailored to each discipline and each type of surface. For dirt, the brand offers several compounds suited to conditions ranging from wet clay to a dry, slick track, along with specific grooved tread patterns. On road course and in autocross, its DOT-approved radial tires combine a stiff carcass with soft compounds calibrated for maximum grip on dry asphalt. For drag racing, the slicks favor a wide tread and a soft compound that promotes traction off the line. The lineup includes both bias-ply slicks and full radial slicks, each delivering distinct behavior. Hoosier produces more than a thousand tire variants, the result of continuous development and testing in direct collaboration with race teams.
Innovations
The main driver of innovation at Hoosier remains competition itself: the brand develops its compounds and carcass architectures in a direct feedback loop with drivers and teams, adjusting compounds season after season according to surfaces and regulations. The company pioneered the fully dedicated racing tire factory in the United States (Plymouth, 1978), then adopted tubeless radial tire production as early as 1992, at a time when many racing tires were still bias-ply. This mastery of the radial fed its DOT lines for the road course, which set benchmarks for consistent grip and endurance. Since joining Continental AG in 2016, Hoosier has benefited from the R&D resources of a major global tire group, broadening its testing and development capabilities. On the durability side, these competition tires remain consumables designed for performance rather than road longevity.
Manufacturing
Hoosier Racing Tire's head office is located in Lakeville, Indiana, and manufacturing is concentrated in Plymouth, Indiana—the first American plant built solely for racing tires (1978), expanded in 1992 and then integrated into a single complex in the early 2000s. Since the acquisition by Continental AG in 2016, this site has produced motorsport tires under the Hoosier, Continental, and General Tire brands. The brand operates no plant in Canada or in Quebec. In the Quebec market, Hoosier tires are available through distributors and retailers specializing in racing parts and motorsport.
Reputation
Hoosier enjoys a strong reputation within the North American racing community, where it is often described as the largest competition tire manufacturer in the world. Its dominance is especially pronounced in dirt-track racing and in SCCA autocross, where the A7 is considered the benchmark. Driver tests and feedback praise its consistent grip and the availability of a vast range of compounds suited to every surface. In Quebec, the brand's relevance is for motorsport enthusiasts (road course, oval, drag, autocross) rather than everyday road driving. No Hoosier racing tire is designed for winter use or 3PMSF-rated; it therefore does not meet Quebec's requirement in effect from December 1 to March 15.
Models and families
Related Hoosier models
These families are presented for reference. Actual availability depends on the catalogue and sizes.