Why Katherine loves Firestone
November 07, 2011 | By Katherine Legge
I was up late a couple of nights ago lying in bed thinking about Firestone, and the many ways, both on and off-track they have been an integral part of my life. It may seem a strange thing to be thinking of at midnight, but I am a race car driver who is trying to fit the jig-saw pieces together for IndyCar 2012 and most of my time awake---or sleeping for that matter---is spent thinking about race related stuff!
However my thoughts on Firestone were somewhat special so I decided to share the story with you!
I am currently in the UK at the moment and my sister, who has no idea what I am doing at the moment, or my plans for 2012, randomly asked me “can you get me any of those tyres again please” (Yes, I am British—so in my world—they are Tyres)? I thought back and realized that ‘those’ tyres she was actually referring to, were Bridgestone’s from a few years back.
And the question got me thinking about all the things Al Speyer and his team at Firestone/Bridgestone do for us.
Years ago, I got a phone call from the very same sister, crying and in need of new tyres (she doesn’t know a wheel nut from a cashew nut). I wasn’t in the country at the time, so I called my friends at Bridgestone/Firestone for help. And within MINUTES, the USA office had contacted the UK branch and subsequently a local tyre fitter---and my sister was back on the road. With just one phone call.
It is often that you don’t realize what you have, until you don’t have it anymore. It’s one of life’s little lessons that is sent your way occasionally and keeps everything you do in perspective.
This is definitely the case for me and all things tyre-related in my world!
When I had been driving in Champ Car on the Bridgestone tyre, I had not one failure or tyre related problem in two seasons and a bunch of testing… That is a very impressive thing to say, but at the time---we all thought nothing of it. It was completely normal---and that’s just how tyre manufactures operated. You worked through with your team engineers and the Tyre Engineers to work on pressures, temperature set-ups etc., but it honestly did not cross my mind that the actual tyre itself would be anything short of perfect!
So it wasn’t until I came back to Europe to race that I realized how lucky we had been. We had a few individual and team tyre related issues and it got me to thinking how extraordinary Bridgestone/Firestone truly is. The things they do for their customers---which includes drivers and teams--goes above and beyond expectation. And it’s the people within that organization that make it the way it is.
I am very proud to call them my friends.
Back in 2006, they went out of their way to develop a set of unique pink tyres for my ‘Warriors in Pink’ car for the benefit of the Susan Komen foundation. Just another example of how they went above and beyond to help not only myself, but so many others.
My main reason for coming back to the USA was my love for the country and the people. To me Firestone embodies all the things I love about the USA. They really care and it shows in their products and the way they treat their customers. They work extremely hard and function as one big family. They have the best quality product I have ever raced on, and I would not let any of my friends/family buy anything else!!
So to everyone at Firestone---I am sorry for taking you for granted all these years, and now I can’t wait to get back out on track and lay some Firestone rubber down with a big grin on my face!!