Firestone unveils ENLITEN Technology for IndyCar tires

Firestone has taken its next step with introducing sustainable materials within its IndyCar Series racing tires and some of its road tires by incorporating its ‘ENLITEN Technology.’

ENLITEN will be featured in Firestone’s primary and alternate compounds, and specific to its street course tires, ENLITEN replaces the use of the guayule shrub which was used in the sidewalls and was identified by green bands.

With the shift, Firestone’s alternate tires return to having red bands for both street races and road races while the primary tires remain black; ENLITEN logos will be a new presence on all IndyCar tires.

In succeeding guayule, the application of ENLITEN Technology across all of Firestone’s IndyCar tires is rooted in the greater embrace of recycled materials in the manufacturing process.

It’s found with the new use of renewable soybean oil, which replaces petroleum-based oils commonly used in tire compounds, with recycled steel, which Firestone says is being used for the bead wire that anchors a race tire to a wheel, and in recycled carbon black, which it describes as “reinforcement material recovered from end-of-life tires.” Together, they combine to form the three pillars of the ENLITEN Technology rollout.

“Firestone Racing serves as a mobile lab to test and prove new technologies under the most extreme conditions,” said Bridgestone Americas Motorsports director Lisa Boggs. “The integration of ENLITEN Technology is the next step in our commitment to no compromises, and sustainably focused technology through the use of cutting-edge materials.”