In 1964 we (Y&R, San Francisco) had Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. John Emmerling, Ralph Price and I were assigned the Racing Tire Division, because it was a small budget. We were in San Angelo, Texas at Goodyear’s Oval Test Track with A.J. Foyt hoping to set an oval track speed record on Goodyear Double Eagle Passenger Tires. In those days, we had newspaper and magazine ads at every major paper and magazine in the country with one piece of information missing…The exact speed if the record was made. Foyt succeeded at 204.6 mph, but called from a two way radio when he was out of sight. Soon, a pickup truck left to tow the race-car back, as we were told the car had broken down. Soon it appeared and the Double Eagle Tires were in excellent shape, and the record had been set. All the national media folks went immediately to phones to give their publications the correct speed record, and the next day the ads ran all over the country. The next evening (the day after the record was set) we were told over setup drinks at a San Angelo Bar that we should go out back and look in the pickup truck bed that was covered with a tonneau. We did and there were four Double Eagle Tires in shreds. They had been destroyed at the speed Foyt was driving. It was too late to stop the ads, as they had already run in all the major newspapers. That year Double Eagle Tires blew out all over Texas where people drove their Cadillacs and Lincolns at very high speeds on the back roads.
Richurd Somers