MICKEY THOMPSON U nder Goodyear ownership since the takeover of Cooper Tire in 2021, Mickey Thompson Tires is a long way from its founding as an independent, maverick, specialty race tire business in 1963. But through a combination of niche products, motorsport focus and independent management, the brand is keeping the spirit of its founder alive. A planned return to SCORE (Southern California Off Road Enthusiasts) off-road racing – the series founded by Mickey Thompson himself in 1973 – is a fitting next step in an expanding off-road competition presence that has also led to the development of the new street-legal Baja Boss XS tire. “In 2019 we launched the Baja Boss MT, a traditional mud tire,” explains Ben Anderson, Mickey Thompson’s senior product manager, light truck. “It gained a lot of popularity in off-road spaces. In 2023, Jeremy Jones won the Ultra4 King of the Hammers Every Man Challenge on MTs as well as the Ultra4 Legends National Championship. Jeremy has helped us with feedback on the tire and to learn about the desert and endurance challenges in Ultra4. “We have also worked with some SCORE race teams, which don’t need DOT-approved tires,” he continues. “The Baja Boss X is our development tire. We have had eight versions of that tire in four years – broadening the traction range in hot and cold temperatures, making it more cut and chip resistant, and so on. We’ve been constantly running it in the field, getting feedback, tweaking it and running it again. We developed a four-ply technology with super-durable sidewalls. It’s very puncture resistant but it’s a very sticky compound “ 42 One of the big pieces of feedback that we get from the racers is that the controllability of our products is superior to others. That could be pattern and that could be construction as well. It all works together” Ben Anderson, senior product manager, light truck, Mickey Thompson www.tiretechnologyinternational.com March 2024 Right: Car #98 – Jordan Pellegrino (GenRight/Mickey Thompson) in the Race of Kings 4400 Unlimited Race, King of the Hammers 2023