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In 1911, the first Indy 500® was held and Firestone tires were on the winning car. Since then, Firestone-equipped racers have maintained a strong presence in the Sunday races. From 1920 through 1966, every winner at the Indy 500® had one thing in common - Firestone tires.
Firestone became a household name as the company continued to grow and make its mark on the country. People began shopping at Firestone one-stop service centers that sold not only tires, but car service and batteries. Within 13 years of opening the first store, the Firestone network of stores grew to 575 and offered 2,200 different items. In homes across America, people tuned in each week to hear the "Voice of Firestone" radio program that started in 1928 and ran for the next 36 years. And, Americans followed the footsteps of Harvey Firestone as he championed the drive to improve the infrastructure of the country with modern highways and better roads.
As the century began to draw to a close, the company, which had long held a strong international presence, began looking for an international partner to help it compete more effectively on a global scale. In 1988, the Bridgestone Corporation of Japan purchased the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. It was the largest investment ever of a Japanese company in an American company.
The merger created a truly new global company that brought Firestone's manufacturing capabilities and production operations to Bridgestone. The merger positioned the company to sell tires internationally and leveraged technological advances that included UNI-T®, which improves tire traction on wet surfaces, and UNI-T AQ™, which keeps performance at optimum levels even as tires wear.
In 1995, the Firestone name returned to Indy racing after an absence of more than two decades and soon reclaimed some familiar territory - the winner's circle.
Fifteen years after the two companies merged, Bridgestone Americas has entered the new century just as it began - with fire: to continually innovate, to offer the best, to win the race and to make the lives of people safer and easier. Harvey S. Firestone would have been proud.
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