KMC WHEELS & Robby Gordon Team Up

KMC Wheels is proud to welcome Robby Gordon to the KMC Wheels family as an iconic driver and team owner for the brand. Known for his accomplishments in many disciplines of racing, Gordon is truly a stand out driver as well as an innovator in motorsports. He is one of the only drivers in the history of racing to have success in Off-Road, NASCAR, IndyCar and Endurance SportsCar racing.

“Wheel Pros and KMC Wheels are the leaders in the industry, have the best design/manufacturing capabilities and greatest distribution power of any wheel company,” said Robby Gordon. “As a driver and builder of top-level race cars, I am looking forward to collaborating with KMC Wheels to develop some game-changing products over many years.”

“KMC Wheels is really excited to welcome Robby Gordon to the family. As a part of this partnership, KMC Wheels will be involved in Gordon’s desert endeavors, Dakar and Stadium Super Truck programs moving forward,” said Jody Groce, President, KMC Wheels. “Gordon is a true icon both behind the wheel and in product development. For this reason, in addition to his role as a KMC Wheels driver, he will be highly involved in the development and technology put into XD Series by KMC Wheels off-road wheels.”

The first product to result from Gordon’s involvement with KMC Wheels will be the Robby Gordon collection within the XD Series wheel brand. In the coming months there will be a range of styles co-designed between KMC and Gordon. These styles will include truck, buggy and UTV (details for XD Series UTV wheels to be covered in a later announcement).

Built around technology and leading-edge design, KMC Wheels and Robby Gordon are developing new wheels for the defiant breed of drivers and truck builders that are committed to pushing beyond the limits of what was believed to be possible.

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Permalink Reply by NIKAL on November 11, 2015 at 2:33am

So I guess the Robby Gordon Wheel Co. Is shutting down? This might also explain why Cam & the Desert Assassins are no longer running KMC wheels, starting at the Baja 1000. I assume RG will be on KMC at the 1000?

Lots of changes in the last year, with the RGX shocks going away for Kings, now the RG wheel going Bye Bye for KMC. Then you add the new partnership with Arctic Cat, and you have a busy contract year.

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Permalink Reply by Dave-O on November 11, 2015 at 9:53am

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em... Especially if the money is right.

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Permalink Reply by GLuce on November 11, 2015 at 11:27am

Isn't it more like Ultra to KMC?

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Permalink Reply by ScottM on November 12, 2015 at 1:09pm

From RDC... Good news...

Walking around SEMA this year, we got a call informing us that Robby had signed with KMC Wheels for his desert racing, SST and Dakar program. This deal brought up a lot of interesting thoughts for us considering Robby already has his own wheel line. Does teaming up with a wheel manufacturer affect his current wheel? Maybe this is simply a deal to run their sticker and collect a check? When offered the chance to interview him, we jumped at it because one, it’s Robby Gordon and two, well did we mention it’s Robby Gordon?

We made our way to the KMC semi where Scott Cobett and Todd Hayes made the introduction and gave us a brief intro into the deal they made with Robby. Robby is one of the most talented drivers behind the wheel, not only in desert racing, but also has raced Indy Cars, Nascar, Dakar and SST, making him a celebrity in the racing world. What we learned though from our interview is that there is a business side to Robby that most have not dealt with. Robby will always be a racer first but in order to do that as a career, you have to also be great at business.

That’s where the partnership with KMC comes into play. KMC will be developing a line of XD series wheels that are signature Robby Gordon wheels. They will include his current wheel, the RG1 that we all know and love, plus as many as four or five new styles in the next couple of years. By teaming up with KMC, Robby’s wheel will be distributed worldwide. For example, Robby has taken his SST series successfully to Australia and now his wheels will be available there due to the reach of KMC. The same thing goes for his Dakar program in South America and even Canada.

So a deal that seemed like a sticker on a truck and a check turns out to be a business deal that makes even non business people appreciate the details including distribution worldwide, reaching all of the countries he races in, a huge manufacturer overseeing the making of his wheels in multiple size and lug patterns available with larger amounts of inventory being warehoused.

With the success of SST, Robby and KMC feel that the urban off road customers are going to be playing important roles in the aftermarket truck industry. On the KMC side, the partnership with Robby brings a broad customer base. The social views that SST is getting online are growing every year, proving there is a large interest. KMC is betting on the fact that those fans will in turn purchase wheels, tires and other accessories to modify their vehicles just as the desert crowd does today.

Thank you KMC for allowing us to talk to Robby about this deal and thank you to RG himself for letting us ask the things everyone thinks about when it comes to sponsorship deals. We look forward to seeing what the collaboration between these two heavy hitters brings to the market and will post anything else we see and hear regarding new product.

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Permalink Reply by NIKAL on November 12, 2015 at 1:09pm

A detailed explanation of the partnership with Robby & KMC is posted on the RDC Main Page. The guys at RDC met & interviewed Scott & Todd with KMC & Robby at SEMA.

Good news is the RG1 wheel that so many have ran or are running will still be available through KMC with several new styles coming out in the future.