To all American Racer/McCreary Race Tire Customers
……….In January of this year, we conferenced with our distributors to discuss the upcoming racing season and to update them regarding any supply concerns. What we knew then was that we were already seeing a serious shortfall in staffing levels in our production facilities due to national and state COVID policies. As a result of this we anticipated a very tight supply chain, and strongly encouraged our distribution network, worldwide, to not enter into any new supply agreements beyond that date, until we could see what the future would hold. All of us that employ people know what that picture looks like today – record job vacancies across the country. Further we have seen some supply interruption on raw materials, which is slowing production and escalating costs. Also, In January we made the decision to schedule production in preference of our higher volume products, and less of our lower demand tires, to maximize availability to our customer base. These efficiencies along with reallocation of other resources in the factory have resulted in overall production increase of approximately 20% year to date. This is by far our highest production rate in at least a decade.
……….At the same time, however, everyone knows that demand for any racing part, and in particular, tires, is at an unprecedented level across the entire industry. There are many reasons for this spike. For example, we know that car counts are up at many of our venues due to shortages of supply at other tracksnot on our brands. We are all swimming in the same pond and any supply interruption is felt across the industry. We are certainly feeling it. Many of our customers have already heard this story from their American Racer Distributor, but in case you have not, please be advised that you will experience a tire shortage if you have not already. Our inventories are at all time lows at the factory and undoubtedly at our distribution points. All tires produced this week are shipped this week. This is going to affect every customer in some way, certainly for the near term and possibly for the remainder of the 2021 racing season.
……….If you have not done so already, I strongly suggest that you make plans to control consumption atthe point of sale. I believe it is likely that all tracks and series will be forced to alter, postpone, or cancel some events, because of this industrywide problem. So, you must do all you can to conserve product to maximize your racing schedule.
……….We are producing tires at an extraordinary rate, despite the economic climate, and we will do all we can to continue that effort. Please work through your distributor with any questions. Many of you have already been working with us to help and we appreciate it very much. We thank all of you for your understanding of a situation that is beyond our control. This company and our American Racer Distributors are committed to our customers and we will continue to do all we can to help.
Scott Junod
Director of Racing
American Racer/McCreary Brand
