AKRON, Ohio, Dec. 8 - NASCAR driver Mark Martin relies on Goodyear tires on the track, but he also depends on Goodyear truck tires to transport his car between race venues.

That is why Martin and his truck driver, Dennis Ritchie, are featured in Goodyear's newest advertising campaign for the Goodyear G397 LHS steer tire.

"NASCAR drivers are naturally very particular when it comes to their cars - on and off the track. The fact that NASCAR teams select Goodyear tires for their transport vehicles speaks volumes," said Mike Thomann, marketing manager for Goodyear Commercial Tires. "The message of the advertising campaign is clear: If a top NASCAR driver like Mark Martin trusts his valuable cargo to Goodyear truck tires, then you can, too."

The advertisement, designed by J. Walter Thompson U.S.A. Inc., features Martin and Ritchie standing in front of Martin's race car and transport truck. The G397 LHS tire is highlighted in a box.

The ad's theme is "How the stars get to the race."

"The ad strikes a chord among commercial truck drivers. Even before NASCAR's popularity surged in the general public, people in the trucking industry tended to follow the sport closely," said Thomann. "Like NASCAR drivers, commercial truck drivers are intimately familiar with their vehicles and demand the best possible performance out of them."

The G397 LHS has been through the rigors of testing typically associated with high-performance tires.

"We tested this new design against proven race car tire technology. As a result, we produced a tire that has not only enhanced durability and retreadability, but improved cornering and handling capabilities," said Thomann.

Introduced earlier this year, the G397 LHS is the result of ground-up re-engineering by Goodyear. The casing includes a reinforced belt package - fortified with supertensile steel and featuring a puncture- and moisture-resistant polyamide top belt.

Goodyear supplies commercial tires as original equipment to a number of truck manufacturers, offers a wide range of replacement tires to meet the needs of commercial carriers and independent drivers and is one of North America's largest retreaders of medium radial commercial truck tires.