Under the dark night sky, two men stand in front of an open car hood. A turning wrench is the only sound.

"Whatever you're working on, Advance'll help you keep the wheels turning."

Advance Auto Parts is promoting a new message on one of the largest television-watching days of the year -- Super Bowl Sunday.

During this super-ratings football game, when national advertisers like PepsiCo, Victoria's Secret and Budweiser will snatch up what is perhaps the year's most expensive commercial spots, some Roanoke Valley and regional companies also will take the spotlight. But these ads won't reach the more than 90 million viewers nationwide that the Super Bowl is expected to draw.

In the case of Roanoke-based Advance, its commercials will air only in the Roanoke Valley and Lynchburg markets for the Super Bowl. Two will be aired during the pregame and one during the game.

But like national advertising, these local television spots are available at a premium price.

Nationally, a company will pay as much as $3 million for a 30-second commercial spot during the Super Bowl.

Roanoke's Fox affiliate station, Fox 21/27, which will air the Super Bowl on Sunday night, would not reveal how much it charges advertisers for the game's commercials. But WDBJ-7 in Roanoke, a CBS affiliate that aired the Super Bowl last year, provided a general figure.

Typically, the charge for 30 seconds of Super Bowl advertising time is $24 to $32 per 1,000 households, said Ray Sullivan, general sales manager for WDBJ-7. For example, it would cost $240 to $320 for a 30-second commercial spot reaching 10,000 households, he said.

That's significantly higher than the cost of a typical prime time slot locally, he said. Those spots are $18 to $24 per 1,000 households, Sullivan said.

Last year 246,000 households throughout the Roanoke Valley and Lynchburg markets watched the Super Bowl, Sullivan said, quoting figures from Nielsen Media Research, a market research company. That puts the price of a 30-second spot at $5,904 to $7,872 in 2007.

"It's a high demand product, because the audience is there," Sullivan said.

Last year, WDBJ-7 signed on three local companies for commercials during the Super Bowl. They were a local law firm, an auto dealership and the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Chamber of Commerce, Sullivan said.

Ralph Claussen, general sales manager for Fox 21/27, declined to identify local advertisers who bought commercial time during Sunday's game.

Advance has revealed that it is among them.

The auto parts retailer isn't claiming the Super Bowl's massive audience as its main reason for kicking off a new advertising campaign this Sunday, though it is the first time that it has advertised during the Super Bowl.

The timing of Advance's new brand rollout happened to coincide with the Super Bowl, said Elwyn Murray, executive vice president at Advance.

By airing the commercials first locally, Advance wanted to "create excitement and enthusiasm in Roanoke" with its new message, he said.

"Keep the Wheels Turning," the retailer's new slogan, appears to target customers the auto retailing industry calls "do-it-yourselfers." It flashes shots of people working in their home garages, amid tools and grease.

There are blasts of loud, heavy-metal music, a change from the much softer tune, "We're Ready in Advance," which is Advance's previous advertising jingle.

"It obviously has a grittier feel," Murray said.

In February, Advance will air its commercials in Florida and Texas and plans to expand them nationally by March.

Advance wants to draw more customers into its stores this year. Sales at its stores open for a year or longer decreased in much of 2007, compared with growth in its commercial business, which supplies auto parts to local garages.

The retailer's earnings also declined during the last three quarters in 2006, the company reported.

Advance has discontinued much of its print advertising and shifted those funds to electronic ads, which include television commercials, Murray said. He wouldn't disclose how much Advance is paying to advertise on Super Bowl Sunday.

Also, last year, the company hired a new advertising agency, The Richards Group, based in Texas.

Though the Super Bowl is the king of unique and expensive commercials, Sullivan said other sporting events may rival the football game's high-dollar advertising rates in the local market.

For example, NASCAR races generally attract large audiences, bringing a slew of advertisers clamoring for commercial slots, Sullivan said.

"Sporting events drive that kind of viewership," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.