Racing Fans Burning Rubber To Buy Tire-Soled Sandals

RANDALL SAGE searches back yards and rummage heaps for used race-car tires. Each pair of his sandals is marked with the unique cuts, or `sipes,' of a driver.

Racing fans can get the inside track on rubber-burning action by strapping their feet into sandals made from discarded race-car tires.

In the spirit of recycling, Randall Sage of Bothell rummages through the back yards of drivers who race on dirt tracks and gathers up their used Goodyear, Hoosier or McReary treads.

After he cuts them into shoe sizes, adds leather uppers, protective strips and adjustable Velcro, his Big Randall's Racing Sandals look like footwear found in any sporting-goods catalog - but with one major difference.

Race-car drivers break up, or "sipe," a tire's tread with personalized cuts for extra grip during tight turns. Each of Randall's Sandals features a driver's sipe.

"This gives the sandal purchaser a more unique sole as different drivers use different sipes," said Sage, owner of Big Randall's, a company he formed 10 years ago that has gained momentum in the last three years.

Sage sells the sandals for $39.95 at racing events such as the Gold Cup in Chico, Calif., and the Dirt Cup, held at the Skagit Speedway in Mount Vernon, where he can be found most Saturdays schmoozing with racers and fans.

His annual sales range from $40,000 to $50,000, and he's talking with Seattle International Raceway about carrying his line. He hopes to add sandals made from drag-racing tires.

Involved in the racing world since a child, Sage was returning from an event in Montana 10 years ago with a friend, and the two wondered what could be done with all the wasted rubber in racing.

Sage found a backer and produced several pairs of "not-too-good-looking" sandals out of used race-car tires.

After "wasting about 20 grand" trying to manufacture them himself, he sent production to Mexico for a more professional look.

"I discovered, if you want to to make sandals, it's best to go to a sandal maker," Sage said.

He took his show on the road and sold his goods the old-fashioned way: out of the back of a trailer at racing events.

Some things have changed since then.

Sage still follows the thrill of the track for sales, but now has the hand-sewn, chemically bonded footwear made by Big Sky International, a Taiwanese company.

"The sandal has evolved from a hand-constructed product in our garage to a professionally manufactured piece of long-lasting footwear," Sage said. "If an 800-horsepower engine can't wear out these tires, I want to know what person can," he challenged.

Local drivers can be seen racing around in Randall's Sandals when not speeding toward the checkered flag.

Barry Martinez, who races at Skagit Speedway, said he likes the idea of wearing an actual race-car tire.

"These tires are really soft, so they have a lot of `cush' to them," said Martinez, of Everett. "They're not like a conventional driving tire. They're almost as soft as a sponge, so they're comfortable and bendable."

Twelve to 15 pairs of shoes are produced out of one 18- or 19-inch tire, which is about three times the width of a regular car tire.

Forays into drivers' back yards as well as heap piles at racing tracks provide enough rubber for several hundred sandals, the amount Sage orders three or four times a year.

He sets up shop in Holiday Inn parking lots, where fans hang out with drivers who work on their speed machines.

"People see the logo, and fast and furious, I have people hopping around on one foot trying on shoes," said Sage, adding that he hands out free cans of beer to buying customers.

Doing business this way produces brisk sales, and his goods often sell out within a day, he said. Racing fans are loyal, he noted, and also appreciate that he donates 8 percent of his profit to Nascar's and World of Outlaw's injured drivers' funds.