Cooper Tire Sponsors 2004 Formula 2000 Racing; Sponsorship Supports Cooper's Commitment to Excellence in Ultra High Performance Tires

FINDLAY, Ohio--Aug. 9, 2003--Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has announced a new five-year agreement with Formula Motorsports, Inc. (FMI) to create the Cooper Tire Championship Series. This Series will be the new home of the Formula Ford 2000 Zetec racing program, which boasts alumni including Indy Car stars Alex Barron (Mo Nunn Racing), Sam Hornish (Panther Racing), Buddy Rice (Red Bull Cheever), Dan Wheldon (Andretti Green Racing) and Greg Ray (Access Motorsports).

Also under the Cooper Tire Championship Series umbrella in 2004 will be separate Pro Championships in the Formula SCCA and SCCA Sports Racer categories for cars using Van Diemen-manufactured chassis. All three categories will use the same Cooper Zeon racing radials.

"Cooper already has a rich racing heritage in Europe with our Avon racing tires. We are beginning to expand this expertise more aggressively in other markets as evident by our sponsorship of the Cooper Tire Championship Series with Cooper Zeon racing tires," said Thomas A. Dattilo, Cooper chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Jon Baytos, FMI president, added, "We see a great future in our new partnership with Cooper Tires and the three championships that we will promote together. It is an excellent opportunity for the seasoned professional as well as the young racer stepping up from Karting to get the experience and exposure required to make an impact in motorsports."

"Cooper Tire has developed a performance-driven replacement tire using knowledge gained through the racing association. The Zeon family has been proven on both the test track and in the real world," says Johnny Unser who acts as a performance advisor to Cooper to ensure that the tires' performance exceeds industry standards. "The technology used in developing the Zeon UHP product line is consistent with Cooper's tradition of commitment to precision and performance in replacement tires for sports and performance cars, SUVs, light trucks and 4x4s."

About Cooper Tire & Rubber Company

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, with headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, specializes in the manufacture and marketing of automotive products including auto, motorcycle and truck tires, inner tubes, tread rubber and equipment. Cooper-Standard Automotive is an original equipment supplier of sealing, trim, NVH control systems and fluid handling systems for the automotive industry in North America, Europe, Australia and South America. Cooper has more than 20,000 employees and 52 manufacturing facilities in 13 countries. In 2002, Cooper tied for "Best Customer Satisfaction in Replacement Tire for Light Truck Vehicles" in the J.D. Power and Associates' Replacement Tire Customer Satisfaction Study. For more information about Cooper, visit www.coopertire.com.

About Cooper Zeon UHP

As Cooper's high performance initiative, the new family of Zeon UHP tires is consistent with both the company's strategic direction and the trends in the replacement tire market. Cooper links the technology it uses in developing racing tires to its new consumer high performance line. The Cooper Zeon 2XS was the first of the Zeon UHP line to be launched. As its name implies, the Zeon 2XS takes performance and handling "to excess." The tire offers a number of technological advanced features, from the construction and tread compound, to its dramatic, tapered tread design. The second was Zeon XST, with which consumers can improve the appearance and performance of their sport "tuned" trucks and SUVs. As a true performance tire, the Zeon XST features a spiral, nylon overwrap; a directional tread pattern; and optimized tire profile. In the coming months, Cooper has aggressive plans to launch several additional performance lines including all-season UHP, sport truck performance, sport truck touring, and tuner H-rated performance models.

About Formula Ford 2000 Zetec Championship

The Formula Ford Zetec Championship began in North America in 1982 as a Canadian championship, then was brought to the United States as a Sportcar Club of America, National category race.

In 2002 celebrating its 10th anniversary as a Pro Championship, the series switched from the original Pinto 2.0 OHC Ford engine to the Ford Zetec 2.0 liter twin cam four-valve engine. This combination transformed the engine to become more powerful and reliable, and it reduced engine maintenance costs by nearly 80 percent. The current Zetec engine produces close to 160BHP at 140 FT lbs of torque, all coming from the stock engine found in Ford's current Focus and Escape models.

The chassis used in the Zetec Series are all-chrome moly tube construction, produced in England by Van Diemen International, a 30-year company that is part of the Don Panoz-owned Elan Motorsport group.

Organized and administered by Formula Motorsports Inc., St. Petersburg, Fla., the Zetec Championship is sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing. The Zetec Championship emphasizes cost-effective racing with maximum exposure, and is widely considered the premier open-wheel training series in North America. The series offers young, talented drivers the ideal environment to learn the physical skills and the mental abilities necessary to compete successfully in the upper echelons of motorsports. Graduates of the Formula Ford 2000 Zetec Championship have proven to be far ahead of others in their ability to adapt to Atlantic, CART and IRL cars, and to provide thoughtful, intelligent feedback to their teams.

The Van Diemen-built RF-281 is used as the basis of the SCCA's new Formula SCCA and Sports Racer categories. This chassis uses the Mazda Duratec engine and can be switched in hours from the Formula car to the Sports Racer or vice versa.

Designed to be an entry-level chassis in terms of cost and maintenance, the chassis is positioned to transform the marketplace in terms of value and performance.

Note: A photo is available at URL: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/photo.cgi?pw.080903/bb1