Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) is advancing the use of sustainable materials in motorsports at the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 (Indy 500) this year where the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 race tires will feature two monomers derived from the waste residue of palm oil processing.
These bio-styrene and butadiene monomers are certified by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) for transparency and traceability of sustainable raw materials throughout the supply chain.
Bridgestone, which has been the exclusive tire supplier for the NTT IndyCarSeries and the Indianapolis 500 for 25 consecutive years, produced these race tires at its ISCC Plus-certified Advanced Tire Production Center (ATPC) in Akron, Ohio. The certification, awarded in 2022, recognizes the facility’s use of sustainable raw materials, including bio, bio-circular and circular-based synthetic rubber.
The Firestone Race Tire Engineering team, along with nearly 60 production teammates, will manufacture more than 5,000 Indy 500 race tires for practice, qualifying and competition at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in May.
Cara Krstolic, executive director of race tire engineering and production at Bridgestone Americas, said, “In proving the same premium performance can be delivered at this level through more sustainable materials and technologies, we can work to extend these efforts beyond motorsports into solutions being designed for the future of mobility.”
Additionally, Bridgestone is collaborating with Penske Truck Leasing and IMS to transport all Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 tires using electric-powered Freightliner eCascadia trucks.
Beyond the Indy 500, Bridgestone also uses guayule-derived natural rubber in the sidewalls of Firestone Firehawk alternate race tires for NTT IndyCar Series street course races. Guayule, a desert shrub which is grown at Bridgestone’s research facility in Arizona, is being explored as a potential alternative source of natural rubber.
