Papadakis Racing Toyota drivers Fredric Aasbo and Ryan Tuerck join Kenda Motorsports

Tire supplier to vie for Formula Drift Tire Cup in 2025

LOS ANGELES, California (February 18, 2025) — Fredric Aasbo and Ryan Tuerck will join the Kenda Motorsports team in 2025, campaigning the Formula Drift series for Papadakis Racing Toyota on Kenda VEZDA UHP MAX+ tires. The team’s veteran drivers are favored for podium performance in the series.

“At Papadakis Racing, our goal is always to win,” said team owner Stephan Papadakis. “We are excited about working closely with Kenda’s technical team to optimize our performance and bring Kenda its first Formula Drift podiums this season.”

Kenda joined the Formula Drift series in 2023 with the launch of the Kenda VEZDA UHP MAX tire. The series provides the ultimate test bed for street legal tires. Teams need to optimize grip for speed off the start and then put durability to the test as drivers slide the course sideways, generating tremendous heat while still needing to maintain control. Series rules require tires to be DOT-approved and available to the public for purchase.

Kenda Tire uses competitive, open racing competition to develop and showcase its technologies with positioning as Premium Performance at a Value Price. It only races its VEZDA UHP products in series which permit DOT tires, as these tires can be used on the street and in grassroots competition as well as in extreme competitive environments like Formula Drift. Strong performance in open competition allows Kenda to demonstrate its Podium2Pavement™ commitment to a growing audience across the drifting community.

“Kenda embraces this partnership with Stephan, Fredric, Ryan and the team. We believe that competing on Kenda tires will give the Papadakis team a tremendous opportunity to build on its winning legacy and for Kenda to work with them to continue its development of the next generations of VEZDA products for enthusiasts and grassroots competitors!” said Brandon Stotsenburg, Vice President of the Automotive Division.

The Papadakis Racing team began drifting in 2004 and is the most winning in Formula Drift history, earning the 2022, 2021 and 2015 championship titles with driver Fredric Aasbo, as well as back-to-back championships with driver Tanner Foust in 2007 and 2008. Partner Toyota has won the manufacturer’s cup nine times since 2014. Team owner Stephan Papadakis is a legend of sport-compact racing who began building his reputation in the 1990s in drag racing.

Norwegian driver Aasbo will return to Formula Drift this season behind the wheel of the Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra. He started working with Kenda in Europe last season as a product development driver. He has won three Formula Drift titles since joining the Papadakis Racing Toyota team in 2011, earning his first series championship in 2015, as well as back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. He has a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most winning driver in Formula Drift, having achieved 19 No. 1 finishes in the premier USA series and 100-plus podium finishes on three continents over the past decade of global competition. In 2024, he finished third in the championship chase with a record of four podiums, including a win at Round 2 in Atlanta.

Tuerck, who hails from New Hampshire, is a Formula Drift title contender in the Rain-X Toyota GR Corolla. His down-home charm, commitment to the sport’s grassroots, and talent in front of the camera have brought him a social fanbase of 1.7 million followers. His build legacy includes the Stout and the Formula Supra, and started with the viral Toyota GT4586 build released in 2016. That inventive first project inspired the genre of build content online when he paired a Toyota GT86 with a Ferrari 458 engine to generate some 70 million digital impressions. He joined the Papadakis Racing team in 2020 and is a fan favorite for his go-big or go-home commitment to competition. The highlight of his 2024 season was a win at Round 6 in Seattle.

Drifting is a high-skill, high-powered motorsport with an emphasis on car control. In the Formula Drift series, drivers compete in knockout heats on a closed course, sliding sideways in trials judged on speed and style. With origins in Japan, the sport has rapidly grown to one of the most popular youth-oriented motorsports in the world. Here in the United States, Formula Drift officially launched in 2004 and its national schedule of eight events routinely host capacity crowds, while live-streamed multi-platform broadcasts attract millions of online viewers.

About Kenda Tire

Founded in 1962, Kenda Tire is a global leader in tire and wheel manufacturing with market presence in multiple industries, including automotive and light truck, bicycle, motorcycles, ATV, RV, industrial, golf, and more. With more than 12000 employees globally, Kenda Tire prides itself as an organization where quality, honesty, innovation, and customer service are core values.