NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

With the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series in Norwalk this weekend, NHRA 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 NHRA 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 NHRA'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 NHRA, NASCAR, and other racing applications.

The group also visited the Goodyear blimp hangar and checked out the iconic Wingfoot 3 blimp.