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Goodyear sends world’s biggest tires to The Cotton Bowl

Few football games are bigger than The Cotton Bowl.

So it’s only fitting that 2015 Cotton Bowl sponsor, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, will ship a pair of the world’s biggest tires to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for display during the highly anticipated game.

The tires, which are used on giant earthmover machines, stand approximately 13 feet tall. Combined, they weigh nearly 25,000 lbs. And Cotton Bowl attendees will get a rare, first-hand look at them.

Manufactured in the U.S. – specifically at Goodyear’s plant in Topeka, Kan. – the tires will travel some 500 miles on the back of a large flatbed truck to Arlington. Once there, a crane will unload and position them outside both ends of AT&T Stadium, where they will be available for photo ops.

A selfie with a giant Goodyear tire? You bet, says Mike Dwyer, Goodyear marketing director. “We encourage Cotton Bowl ticketholders to stop by and check out these tires, which are true engineering marvels,” he says.

The tires are typically used on trucks that work in mines around the world. And these vehicles aren’t your every day, run-of-the-mill haulers.

“Trucks used in these applications are powered by 3,500 horsepower engines and can carry up to 345 tons of rock and other material, which is the equivalent of 363 Volkswagen Beetles, in one run.”

Goodyear had to ensure that the roads leading to AT&T Stadium were wide enough to accommodate the tires’ gargantuan dimensions, and that the concrete around the stadium was sturdy enough to hold their weight.

After the Cotton Bowl, one of the tires will proceed to Goodyear’s annual Dealer Conference, which will take place in Dallas at the end of January. The other tire will travel back to Goodyear’s Topeka plant. From there, it will eventually ship to a mine, where it will “begin its career” transporting tons of earth.

But on Jan. 1, these wonders of the tire world will be on display for Cotton Bowl ticketholders – and the world – to see, and enjoy.

Jan 21, 2015