Goodyear, named after vulcanized rubber inventor Charles Goodyear, is a tire manufacturer for race cars, automobiles and airplanes. The Goodyear Blimp's first flight in 1925 made Goodyear famous.Official Site: Goodyear History

Drivers Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart both crashed their cars during the final Daytona 500 practice on February 14, 2009. Neither driver was injured. Both drivers blamed the crash on the quality of the Goodyear tires provided to the teams.Hartford Courant: Tony Stewart And Ryan Newman Crash In Final Daytona 500 Practice (Febr. 14, 2009)

Frank A. Seiberling started making Goodyear tries towards the end of the 19th century. He had to borrow money from his brother-in-law to buy his new company's first factory, which required a $3,500 down payment. He named the company after Charles Goodyear, the inventor of the modern rubber vulcanization process, who died penniless. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company had to import rubber from the other side of the world. The first Goodyear tires were made in a landlocked town that was not served well by railroads.http://www.goodyear.com/corporate/history/ Goodyear tires came into production just in time. Bicycles surged in popularity in the 1890s. Goodyear also seized the opportunity the horseless carriage tire market offered. Goodyear was incorporated on August 29, 1898.http://www.goodyear.com/corporate/about/glance.html

"How did the tires hold up on that final lap? Well, not very good but good enough. Kyle (Busch) got to our bumper right off the 2, I thought we were going to be able to pull off the field like that, we didn’t get as big a gap as I thought we would. I was surprised that we were able to chase it as far as we did and he never turned loose of us. I wasn’t going to lift. I knew if I lifted I was going to get wrecked for sure. Trust me, I would have loved to have a little more grip there at the end."

- Tony Stewart, one of the two people who blamed their Daytona 500 practice car crashes on Goodyear tires in early 2009Orlando Sentinel: Stewart: Tires were "good enough" (February 14, 2009)