August 21, 2010
By Allen Madding
When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams unloaded at Bristol Friday morning, they were faced with a challenge –- figuring out a competitive setup in two practice sessions totaling three hours and 35 minutes on a different set of Goodyear tires than what had been used in the past.
A few drivers had a slight upper hand having participated in the Goodyear tire test run earlier this year, but all teams seemed to be earnestly searching for a better setup than how they unloaded.
Several drivers that seemed fast in the first practice session working on race setup were significantly slower in the second practice session working on qualifying setups.
Kevin Harvick, driver of the Richard Childress No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet and crew chief Gil Martin were puzzled in the first practice. When they made changes to the chassis to correct the ill-handling issues they were facing, the car seemed to respond differently than they expected it to.
Several drivers noted throughout the day that the new tires seemed to make the cars feel loose entering the turn -- which could cause issues for two wide racing into the turns. A loose car entering a turn at the bottom would be on the ragged edge of spinning out which would force a driver to counter the spin by turning right and chasing the car up hill. If there was another car on the outside running the high line through the turn, the bottom car could run out of room and get into the side of the car in the high groove.
The tires Goodyear supplied for the weekend are compounds left side D-4404 and right side D-4408. Matt Kenseth explained that the tire had an extra amount of rubber on the surface much like the tires used to remedy the tire problems experienced at Indianapolis Motor Speedway a few years back. Kenseth indicated the extra rubber made the tires feel greasy entering the turn contributing to the loose feel most drivers noted.
When asked about the difference between the Spring event at Bristol and this week’s experience, Tony Stewart responded, “It’s not because the track has changed as much as the tires change. Goodyear brought a different tire here and I think a lot of us are kind of scrambling around trying to figure out what we had here in the Spring. I don’t think it is what this tire likes. We’re all kind of thrashing around trying to figure it out.”
Kurt Busch commented, “Anywhere we do good -- they either change the tire or take it off the schedule. They changed the tire this week, and we have to do the best with it (as) we can.”
When asked why Goodyear opted to bring a new tire for this weekend, Busch explained, “A lot of teams were on edge in March with tire blow outs. If you bring the same kind from March -- when drivers were on edge, you would have a lot of blowouts in the Summer because it’s hotter.”
Clint Bowyer said that the tire seemed to be “line sensitive” and would probably contribute to the high line, through the turns, being the fastest way around for the weekend.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
You can contact Allen Madding at ..
