Series Gainesville title sponsor announced

TIRE KINGDOM NAMED TITLE SPONSOR OF NHRA GATORNATIONALS

GLENDORA, Calif. (Feb. 18, 2010) - NHRA officials announced today that Tire Kingdom, a leading brand of service centers for Florida-based TBC Retail Group, Inc. ("TBC") has signed an agreement to become the title sponsor of the tradition-rich NHRA Gatornationals, held at historic Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway.

The Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals, held March 11-14, is the third event in the 23-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in 2010. The race will be televised by ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD.

It is the first event sponsorship for Tire Kingdom and TBC with the NHRA.

"We are pleased to welcome TBC Retail Group and its Tire Kingdom brand into the family of NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event sponsors," said Gary Darcy, senior vice president of sales and marketing, NHRA. "We feel this sponsorship is a perfect fit for a Florida-based company like TBC to promote its Tire Kingdom tire and automotive service centers and we are confident the partnership will help the company achieve its marketing objectives."

The Gatornationals entitlement will increase the company's profile in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, as TBC also recently announced that it will sponsor the two car Pro Stock team of Johnny Gray Racing. Its NTB (National Tire and Battery) brand is the primary sponsor of Johnny Gray's Pontiac GXP, while its Tire Kingdom and Big O Tires brands will share primary space on rookie Shane Gray's GXP.

"During our recent visit to Pomona to finalize our contract with Gray Motorsports, we experienced the excitement of the 50th Anniversary of the NHRA Winternationals," said Lynn Parker, senior vice president of TBC. "We felt it was important to increase our exposure and we are very pleased to be the title sponsor of the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals. We are convinced that our decision to team up with the NHRA will help us meet our marketing objectives."

-source: nhra