FORT WORTH, Texas: Tires remained the hot topic at Texas Motor Speedway, where NASCAR and Goodyear took the unprecedented step of discussing the compound selected for Sunday’s race before a single lap was run.
Goodyear’s multi-zone tread tire makes its season debut in Texas, where speeds reached 200 mph during Friday’s opening test session.
There was a major incident, 100 minutes into training, when Kurt Busch crashed violently into the outside wall. Busch, winner of last week’s race at Martinsville, appeared to blow a left rear tire before losing control of his Chevrolet and crashing.
His car caught fire and as his Stewart-Haas Racing team removed the backup, Busch said the left rear tire began to separate on the backstretch.
The left-side tires used in Texas are the same ones Goodyear used in the last two races here.
The Multi-Zone Tread tire combines two distinct rubber compounds on the right side tire, with the outer 10 inches of tread designed for traction, and the inner 2 inches of compound is designed for durability.
But a handful of drivers have publicly expressed concerns about tire wear and durability on Texas’ high banks. The concern comes two races after a series of left-side tire failures in California led many drivers to question Goodyear’s product and preparation.
Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s racing tire sales manager, said the manufacturer was confident the selection for Texas would go smoothly.
“Historically, Texas hasn’t been a track where we have a lot of problems on the left side,” he said. “We tackled the right side because it’s a high-speed racing track, and that’s what’s hugely emphasized here. That’s why we opted for the zone tread tire, as it was a good solution to this problem.
“I think as a result of some of the problems we’ve seen in Fontana, people are asking the question, ‘Is there any chance we could see the same thing?’ There is always this possibility.
But NASCAR and Goodyear are adamant that any problems in California are self-inflicted and that will be the case again in Texas.
“People are always pushing the limits, always trying to stress every part of the race car,” Stucker said. “We understand this and support it. That’s what makes racing great, right? »
Joey Logano blew two tires in practice in California and his Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski blew three. He admitted Friday that the organization was aggressive with Goodyear’s minimum air pressure recommendations.
“I think it was field-wide. I think everyone was pretty aggressive,” he said.
Even though some teams have gone to NASCAR and asked the sanctioning body to monitor air pressure, NASCAR doesn’t want to start regulating. Instead, he would prefer teams to roll the dice when it comes to strategy.
“It’s a very competitive garage sector. With so much pressure placed on teams to win and compete in the Chase, I think teams will be more likely to push the limits in every way possible,” said Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton. “I’m proud of them for pushing the boundaries like that.” But they also know they have to finish the races.
Logano admitted there was a fine line.
“I don’t really want to slash tires because it hurts,” he said. “I would prefer to have a slightly tougher tire that can handle that kind of thing, but it’s such a difficult thing. We’re here as drivers, we want more grip, we want a softer tire, we want a tire that wears, and then we put so much load on them with these heavy cars that it’s almost impossible to do both.
Kyle Busch wants NASCAR to stay out of it and credits letting teams manage their own tires with helping improve racing this season.
“The races we have had have been more exciting, with the rules relaxed this year. So why do we need to add more rules to tighten the rules again? » said Busch. “I’m against. In California, there were people who abused left-sided air pressure. You saw them take off and have much more speed than the others. Guys like me who didn’t abuse the left side air pressure still managed to recover and had no issues with the tires. In the end, we won the race.
But three-time champion Tony Stewart thinks NASCAR regulations could be good for drivers.
“If it saves us from failures and allows us to race and worry about what we’re doing on the track, instead of guessing if we’re going to make it because the pressure is too low, I would prefer they put a rule to this topic,” Stewart said.
