Messing with tires is one of the most serious infractions in NASCAR, something the sanctioning body will not tolerate. NASCAR officials met with Sprint Cup Series crew chiefs Friday morning at Martinsville Speedway to remind teams not to play where the rubber meets the road.
Although rumors of teams modifying their tires are nothing new – the topic was discussed during Jeff Gordon’s dominant era in 1998 and as recently as 2006 – NASCAR wants to make sure teams are following the rules.
After last weekend’s race at Auto Club Speedway, NASCAR took the Goodyears from the cars of Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard, Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch as part of a tire audit. Tires were also removed after the race at Phoenix International Raceway two weeks ago and at some races last year as well.
Some of these tires were sent by NASCAR to an independent third party for further investigation. The Phoenix tires all came back clean, while results are not yet in for last week’s tires.
All tires used in the Sprint Cup Series are supplied by Goodyear Racing each weekend. Penalties for modifying tires are severe, up to a P5 penalty if warranted, according to NASCAR spokesperson Kerry Tharp. A P5 violation carries a 50-point fine, cash fines of $75,000 to $125,000 and a six-race suspension.
The consensus in the garage is that some teams use small drill bits to drill into tire sidewalls before the race.
When teams change tires, the air pressure is low and increases as the tires heat up. Small holes in the tires would allow some of this air pressure to be released, allowing tire pressure to be more consistent throughout the life of a tire.
Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Alan Gustafson said the tire issue was certainly at the forefront of everyone’s minds in the garage, enough so that NASCAR “reminded them” not to bother them Friday at Martinsville.
“Obviously, NASCAR is trying to make sure that we’re all on a level playing field and if someone violates these rules, they’re going to pay the price, which, as they reminded us this morning, is very harsh,” Gustafson said. “That’s all I know. Anything beyond that is just speculation, plus it’s a hot topic.”
Chad Knaus, Hendrick Motorsports crew chief at Gustafson, said he didn’t know of anyone who tampered with tires in the garage, mainly because he didn’t have “a lot of friends in the garage.”
“My friends aren’t in auto racing,” Knaus said. “So, I don’t know what’s going on. I really don’t know. I know I messaged (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series general manager) Richard Buck and said, ‘Hey man, could we put some holes in our tires? Are you okay?” He texted me back and said, ‘Absolutely not.’ So that’s all I know.”
The typical response among crew members in the Sprint Cup garage Friday at Martinsville was that some teams were changing tires, but each denied that their team had participated in testing.
“That doesn’t happen on the 22 team, I know that,” said Team Penske crew chief Todd Gordon.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Jason Ratcliff, crew chief on Matt Kenseth’s car, said the biggest question is why this problem is coming back all of a sudden.
“Honestly, no one is caught doing anything, no penalties have been given,” Ratcliff said. “Usually when they look into something like this, it’s because they feel like there’s a problem there. My question is, ‘Why do they think there’s a problem there?’ We’ll just keep our eyes open and watch what people do. We have never touched this and we never will. It’s just one of those areas that you stay away from. »
The veteran Gordon said the fact that NASCAR is meeting with crew chiefs and talking about it regularly means something is definitely happening.
“That tells me it’s definitely done,” he said. “It’s just not clear how this is done.”
