COLUMBUS, Ohio (March 31, 2003) – The Super Truck Racing Association of North America (STRANA) has reached a preliminary agreement with Hasbro, Inc., that will see the ‘Tonka’ brand become title sponsor of the fledgling class-8 truck racing series. The multi-year deal is nearly finalized.

“The name Tonka has meant big, tough trucks for generations of North Americans. It’s also synonymous with fun, family entertainment,” says STRANA executive director Brian Till. “That’s exactly what we’re all about and why this match-up would be perfect.”

Under the proposed arrangement, STRANA’s events this year would be called the ‘Tonka 2003 Super Truck Celebrity Challenge’. That’s a series of three demonstration races — one of them in Canada — that will see superstars of road racing competing in STRANA trucks for charity. Next year, when a full program of racing across North America is launched, it will be called the ‘Tonka Super Truck Racing Series’.

As with the two wildly popular STRANA demonstration events in 2002, this year’s Challenge will be run in conjunction with American Le Mans Series races at some of the continent’s best road-racing tracks, including:

§ The Infineon Grand Prix of Sonoma to be run at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. on July 25-27;
§ The Grand Prix at Mosport to be run at Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ont., on Aug. 15-17; and
§ The Road America 500 to be run at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisc. on Aug. 22-24.

In another development, ArvinMeritor says it will supply driveline and axle components for the STRANA race-truck chassis being built by Georgia-based Elan Motorsports Technologies. All competitors in the series will race trucks built to the same basic spec by Elan, a move to keep costs down and competition up. Earlier, it was announced that Haldex will be a primary sponsor for the Celebrity Challenge in addition to its role as the official and exclusive supplier of brake systems for the Super Truck Racing Championship Series through 2005.

The Celebrity Challenge will be televised nationally. ESPN2 has announced it will be a broadcast partner for STRANA’s 2003 events. The network found rousing viewer and sponsor support of “As Big As Racing Gets,” a special broadcast about the development of STRANA that it began airing last fall.

Other STRANA sponsors include Alcoa, Continental Tires, and Shell.