Overview

Our heritage in motorsports dates back to 1895 when founder Henry Timken judged one of the world’s first auto races.
In 1911, when Ray Harroun drove to victory in the first Indianapolis 500, Timken was there. Harroun’s Marmon Wasp had Timken® bearings in the axles.  

In 1902, Timken was in Ormond Beach, Fla., when two young men raced their cars on the beach at top speeds of 77 mph, recognized then as a land speed record. That event, which eventually became the Daytona 500, underscores Timken’s ongoing commitment to the sport.

The very next year, Timken bearings were used in an endurance race from New York to Pittsburgh. This would be one of the first officially-sanctioned events to use Timken bearings in a high-performance automotive application. Twenty years later, Timken bearings made their first appearance in a race at Le Mans, France, and also were standard equipment in more than 80 percent of the automobiles built in the United States.

Today, more major racing series championships are won with cars that rely on Timken products than all of our competitors’ brands combined. That sends a strong message about the quality, performance and teamwork of Timken.

Timeline

1895 – On Thanksgiving Day, Henry Timken judges one of the world’s first auto races. That was four years before the formation of The Timken Roller Bearing and Axle Company.

1902 – Timken bearings on cars racing at Ormond Beach, Florida. A land speed record was set at an event that eventually became the Daytona 500.

1903 – An endurance race from New York to Pittsburgh becomes one of the first officially sanctioned events in which Timken bearings are used in a high-performance automotive application.

1911 - Ray Harroun drove to victory in the first Indianapolis 500. We were there…Timken® bearings were turning on the axles of Harroun’s Indy-winning Marmon Wasp. Today, new Timken technologies add value to modern race teams and offer us the ideal proving ground for tomorrow’s anti-friction solutions. Motor racing and Timken have grown together through more than a century.

1923 – A race is held in Le Mans, France, with Timken bearings on board. Two years later, Timken bearings are standard equipment on more than 80 percent of all automobiles made in the U.S.

1948 – NASCAR, the first formal stock car racing organization, is formed.

1954 – Timken introduces a new line of standardized automotive bearings, marketed to automotive and industrial customers as Green Light bearings.

1966 – In stock car racing, the Trans Am breaks on the scene. Timken bearings and steel have been on board ever since.

1967 – Timken introduces the UNIT-BEARING for automotive and industrial applications.

1970 – Timken introduces Set-Right™ assemblies for automotive bearings.

1978 – The old AAA racing series, formed in 1909, becomes Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). Fast-forward to 1998 and Timken becomes a sponsor in this international racing circuit.

1978 – Introduction of the UNIPAC™ bearing for automotive wheel applications.

1982 – Introduction of UNIPAC-PLUS™ and Wheel-Pac™ bearings.

1985 – Introduction of the Hydrodynamic Labyrinth (HDL™) seal for UNIPAC-PLUS bearings.

1987 – Development of a two-element seal for UNIPAC and UNIPAC-PLUS bearings.

1990 – Introduction of SENSOR-PAC™ bearings for anti-lock brakes and traction control systems.

1993 – Development of heavy truck SENSOR-PAC bearings.

1996 – Timken inks a deal to become an associate sponsor of Rahal Letterman Racing in the Indy Racing League.

2002 - RacePac™ packaged wheel bearings from The Timken Company made a successful debut in April during Busch and Winston Cup qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway. Timken developed RacePac packaged wheel bearings to provide race teams with the first preassembled, race-ready front- and rear-wheel hubs.

2004 – The NASCAR Busch Series turned to Timken as a contingency sponsor for the entire race league. Around 90 percent of Busch Series race cars display the Timken logo and contain Timken race parts today.

2005 – NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) began its two-year technical partnership with Timken. Timken also becomes an official partner of the Formula BMW Asia racing series.

2005 – Tony Stewart wins 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series.

2005 – Signed on with Team Epsilon Euskadi in Renault World Series in Europe.

2006 - Timken becomes Gold Sponsor of the SAE Xtreme Engineering Collegiate Design Series.

2006 – Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx NASCAR Nextel Cup Chevy earned the Rookie of the Year honors on the way to a third place finish in the championship chase.

2006 – Timken introduces an enhanced RacePac™ wheel end assembly to NASCAR teams.

2007 – Timken enters into an agreement with SAE International to sponsor their popular Formula SAE and Baja SAE Collegiate Design Series competition. More than 200 colleges and university from across North America compete in the engineering competition.

2008 – Timken expands its RacePac product offering with Race-Pac Plus. The RacePac-Plus features larger bore bearings than our current RacePac design as well as an integrated raceway hub to deliver optimum load carrying characteristics, increase durability and provide a stiffer front wheel assembly. On the track, that translates into more consistent performance with less variability in the suspension setup.

2009 – Timken enters into an agreement with NASCAR to become a contingency sponsor in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series for the 2009 race season. The Whelen All-American Series (formerly the Dodge Weekly Series) is a semi-professional and amateur auto racing series. It is commonly seen as the grass roots level of competitive racing sanctioned by NASCAR, and is thus the entry point for a number of aspiring drivers.

Today – Timken’s name is seen on racing vehicles all over the world, while Timken manufactured parts help them out of the pits and onto the track.