ÎçҹѰ»¨ racers Shumake, Nataas, Handras visit Goodyear race tire plant in Ohio

With the ÎçҹѰ»¨ Mission Foods Drag Racing Series in Norwalk this weekend, ÎçҹѰ»¨ racers Travis Shumake, Julie Nataas, and Michael Handras visited Goodyear Tire’s Global headquarters in Akron, Ohio, to see how Goodyear’s racing tires are made.
Nataas is the defending ÎçҹѰ»¨ Top Alcohol Dragster world champion who plans a Top Fuel future, while Shumake is competing in his rookie season in Top Fuel. Handras is a standout competitor in ÎçҹѰ»¨'s Sportsman racing ranks, with a win and a runner-up already this season.
The trio, accompanied by Nataas’ father, Thomas, himself a European Top Fuel star, witnessed the creation of a D2747 Top Fuel rear tire. The Goodyear plant annually manufactures approximately 100,000 racing tires for ÎçҹѰ»¨, NASCAR, and other racing applications.
The group also visited the Goodyear blimp hangar and checked out the iconic Wingfoot 3 blimp.