COOPER TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY (NYSE: CTB) today announced a renewed partnership with NOPI Motorsports for the entire eight event calendar of the 2008 NOPI Drift Series, a fully sanctioned national premier drifting event competition. Cooper will be designated a “Drift Presenting Tire Partner” by NOPI for the second year and will showcase the Cooper Tire mobile marketing rig at all NOPI Drift events, including:

April 5/6 – Moroso Motorsports Park, West Palm Beach, Fla.
April 19/20 – Gateway International Raceway, Madison, Ill.
May 3/4 – Old Bridge Township Raceway, Englishtown, N.J.
May 31/1 – Lake Erie Speedway, North East, Pa.
June 7/8 – Columbus Motor Speedway, Columbus, Ohio
July 18/19 – Rock Mountain Raceway, West Valley City, Utah
August 23/24 – Old Bridge Township Raceway, Englishtown, N.J.
September 20/21 – NOPI Nationals at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Ga.

“There’s nothing like a Drift competition to put the focus on tires, and we’re confident that Cooper Zeon high performance tires can drift like no other – especially after winning the 2007 NOPI Drift World Finals and NOPI Drift Championship series with Enjuku Racing’s Bill Sherman. We’re looking forward to making another run for the Championship in 2008!” said Chris Pantani, Director, UHP Marketing and Motorsports at Cooper Tire.

At the eight 2008 NOPI Drift events, Cooper’s mobile tour will serve as the main event stage. Cooper will be promoted as a Drift Presenting Tire Partner on all printed and online event materials, as well as in banners, advertisements, programs/handouts and PA announcements. The excitement of this Drift series fits perfectly with Cooper’s ultra-high performance products. Cooper supplies NOPI Drift teams with a mix of Cooper Zeon 2XS, Cooper Zeon ZPT and Cooper Zeon Sport A/S tires.

“Cooper Tire has been a great partner to the NOPI series,” said Michael Meyers, president of NOPI Motorsports. “Seeing Cooper-supported Drift teams win our inaugural 2007 NOPI World Drift Championship was terrific. We look forward to another incredible year in 2008 thanks to sponsors like Cooper.”

For more information on the NOPI Drift series, please visit nopidrift.com. For more information on Cooper Zeon products, please visit coopertire.com.

About Cooper Tire & Rubber Company
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is a global company that specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing and sales of passenger car, light truck, medium truck tires and subsidiaries that specialize in motorcycle and racing tires.  With headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, Cooper Tire has 67 manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical and design facilities within its family of companies located around the world.  For more information, visit Cooper Tire’s web site at http://www.coopertire.com. 

About NOPI Motorsports
Founded in 1966, NOPI (Number One Parts Incorporated) Parts is one of the country’s leading parts distributors of custom and performance merchandise for cars and trucks. Through the success of NOPI Parts, NOPI Motorsports was founded. NOPI Motorsports currently produces 3 series of events with NOPI Car Shows, NOPI Drift and NOPI Drag. The NOPI car show series contains the largest car show series in the country, NOPI Nationals, an annual event held in Atlanta, GA. NOPI Drag was first conceived in 1997 and is now a sanctioned body of the NHRA. NOPI Drift, the newest addition to NOPI Motorsports, was introduced in 2003 with its first NOPI sanctioned events taking place in 2007 at tracks across the country. Anyone is welcome to participate in or attend a NOPI Motorsports event. To view the entire online catalog of parts or find a NOPI Motorsports event, visit http://www.NOPI.com.