August 27, 2006
Scoop Vessels' F-100 Earns Place at Off-Road Hall of Fame
RENO, Nev.

- Frank "Scoop" Vessels (left) poses with fellow inductee Sal Fish (right)

Honoring three decades of BFGoodrich® Tires' off-road supremacy, which began with Frank "Scoop" Vessel's success, the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame (ORMHOF) officially displayed the Vessels F-100 at the 2006 ORMHOF induction ceremony last night. Located in Gallery Four of the National Automobile Museum (The Harrah's Collection), the Vessels F-100 display debuted at a ceremony honoring inductees Sal Fish and the late Corky McMillin, both of whom helped establish BFGoodrich's dominance in the desert.

"Scoop Vessels' groundbreaking win in the 1977 Baja 500 started a legacy of winning for BFGoodrich, and has lead to 20 consecutive Baja 1000 wins," said Todd Steen, motorsports marketing manager for BFGoodrich Tires. "The Vessels F-100 is a legend in the history of off-road racing, and it deserves to be celebrated at the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame."

The 1977 Baja 500 was a significant event for Vessels. His victory in the race marked the introduction of BFGoodrich® Radial tires to off-road competition. Vessels was instrumental in the development of the first-generation BFGoodrich® Radial All-Terrain T/A®, the tire that changed off-road racing forever. The premiere of the Radial All-Terrain T/A saw the switch from tires that hadn't been intended for competition to those designed specifically for the rigors of speed in the desert.

Vessels' truck was a race-modified short bed Ford F-100 with a spartan interior - two racing seats and a roll cage. The race motor, a propane-powered 404 CID Ford V8, was built by a company that wanted to demonstrate how versatile propane fuel could be. The advantage was that since it was pressurized, it didn't change its density or power delivery with altitude, a major advantage at Baja, where the altitude ranged from 5,500 ft. to below sea level.

"It is an honor to display Scoop Vessels' F-100 in the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame," said Rod Hall, president Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. "Few trucks are as significant to the history of off-road racing as the Vessels F-100. Scoop's truck defined what off-road vehicles were in the late 70s."

The National Automobile Museum (The Harrah Collection) is located on the corner of Mill and Lake streets in downtown Reno, and is within easy walking distance from hotels and casinos. Home of more than 200 cars, the Museum covers more than 100,000 square feet featuring changing exhibits, four period street scenes and a specialty Museum Store.

BFGoodrich® Tires combines technological expertise with vast motorsports experience, delivering a high-performance tire for every type of vehicle from ultra-high performance tuner vehicles, sports cars and SUVs to the hottest sport trucks, pickups and rock-crawling rigs in the world. For more than 30 years, BFGoodrich Tires has used motorsports as a proving ground.

Success on the street begins with winning on the track and BFGoodrich Tires is involved in every type of racing, including oval, sports car, drag, desert, rally (Dakar and WRC) and extreme rock-crawling. With 20 consecutive Baja 1000 wins, the most wins in rock-crawling history, and an unmatched record on pavement, BFGoodrich Tires has proven the only records it breaks are its own. Visit BFGoodrich Tires online at www.bfgoodrichtires.com.