Bridgestone tires with rubber from desert shrub make motorsports debut

If you watched the IndyCar race in Nashville last weekend, you may have noticed some tires with green sidewalls adorning some of the cars. The new tires from Bridgestone, constructed in part with rubber harvested from the guayule shrub, making their motorsports debut. The company says the novel ingredient helps push them towards to goal of completely renewable tires and carbon neutrality.

Branded as Firestone Firehawks, they served as an alternative tire for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix. The branding of Bridgestone's U.S. subsidiary was important, as guayule is native to the American southwest and Mexico, and part of its sustainability appeal lies in the fact that it is local to the market. The tires are manufactured at Bridgestone's Akron, Ohio, factory.