Winning Lexus LX 570 To Compete in The Las Vegas Season Opener

Joe Bacal and his winning Lexus LX 570 are ready to take on the 2013 race season starting in the Southern Nevada desert. This factory backed Lexus Off-Road racer will compete in this weekend’s Mint 400, March 23, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Joe Bacal is a cancer survivor and a former Toyota & Lexus development test driver.

Official Release:

Baja 1000 Winner Joe Bacal to Start 2013 Off-Road Racing Season
at Mint 400

Lexus to Back Championship-Winning Team
for Third Straight Year

            PHOENIX
(March 21, 2013) – Coming off a  solo-driven victory in the 2012
Baja 1000, Joe Bacal and his JTGrey Racing team are ready to race the
Lexus  LX 570 with full Lexus backing again in 2013, kicking off the
season with the Mint 400 this Saturday, March 23 in Las Vegas.  

           
The Mint 400 is one of the oldest and best known desert races–a marquee event
for the Best In The Desert racing series and made famous by the likes of
Parnelli Jones, James Garner, Ivan Stewart, Steve McQueen and Mickey Thompson.

           
 “The Mint 400 is always exciting and a great test for any bona fide
off-road racer,” said Bacal.  “With Lexus supporting us again
this year and the LX working so well, we’d like to show what we can do together
at the Mint.”

           
With a fully sorted and quick truck under him, plus Lexus’ full support and a
seasoned crew behind him, Bacal will also tackle the toughest races on the
off-road calendar this year: The Baja 500 and 1000, both of which he and Lexus
have won.  The beefy LX, despite its generous dimensions, has proven a
smart choice on the rough Mexican terrain. It’s fast and tough, which comes as
no surprise to Lexus.

           
“Joe and his team have proven the capabilities of the LX 570,” said
Lexus Vice President of Marketing Brian Smith.  “Joe has great skill
and true grit as a driver, and the LX is fast and seems unbreakable, so it’s a
hard-to-beat combination.”

           
Bacal and Lexus began their racing partnership in remarkable fashion with a
class victory in the 2009 Baja 500–both as Baja rookies.  Perhaps equally
remarkable, Bacal, a Hodgkins Lymphoma survivor, drove the entire race
distance, a feat Bacal repeated twice at the grueling Baja 1000.  The team
continued its amazing start by capturing the SCORE Stock Full class championship
in 2010, its first full season of racing.  The squad has since notched
wins at the Baja 1000 (twice), the Laughlin Desert Challenge, the Primm 300 and
the San Felipe 250.

# # #

For more information and updates on Joe Bacal, visit www.controlamidchaos.com

Bacal and the JTGrey Racing team acknowledge the following
companies for their outstanding products, services and support:

·         Lexus

·         F-Sport (wheels, performance parts)

·         BF Goodrich (tires)

·         King Shocks (suspension components)

·         KC HiLiTES (lighting)

·         Head First Media (graphics and
marketing support)

·         ARB  (off road accessories)

·         Geiser Brothers Racing (vehicle build
and prep)

·         Sparco USA

About JTGrey:

JTGrey Performance Driving, LLC was created in 2007 by Joe and
Teresa Bacal to provide expert high-performance driving services (on and
off-road) to the auto industry and related companies such as parts suppliers,
print advertising and marketing agencies and the commercial and feature film
industries, among  others.  The company is based in Phoenix,
Arizona.  

JTGrey Racing was created
by Joe and Teresa Bacal in 2008 to support Joe’s off-road racing efforts and is
also based in Phoenix.

Courtesy of JT Grey Racing