June 18, 2009
By Doug Demmons
Jeff Gordon is boldly predicting victory at next month’s Brickyard race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Not for himself, although he’ll certainly be a threat to do so.
Gordon is predicting victory for Goodyear, which needs one even worse than Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Last year Goodyear saw its tires and its reputation reduced to dust on the abrasive Indy surface during the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. On the scale of corporate PR disasters it certainly didn’t approach Bhopal or the Exxon Valdez level, but it was enough to leave the company with skid marks all over its good name.
With tires lasting no more than about 10 laps, NASCAR was waving the yellow flag so often it looked like a truck race at Bristol.
But that’s all changed now. So says Gordon.
In fact, he guarantees it. Take it to the bank. Sure thing. Bet the mortgage.
Gordon was asked Tuesday during a press conference whether fans who might be wary of spending money to see another Brickyard caution-fest could get a guarantee that last year’s disaster won’t be repeated.
“I will guarantee it,” he said. “I'm 100 percent confident. I ran this tire as hard as I possibly could, put numerous laps on them. It's a dead issue. This is going to be a race here. It might come down to fuel mileage; it might come down to a lot of different factors, fastest car, not the fastest car, track position, a double-file restart with 10 to go, but it's not going to come down to a 10-lap shootout on whose tires can last. “They've actually made it too good. It's that good,” he said. “And I'm 100 percent confident, and I can promise all the fans out there that if they want to come to the Brickyard and see a great race and be confident that the tires are not going to be an issue, you can trust me. I hope that's enough for them. But they've got it resolved for sure.”
Greg Stucker from Goodyear was sitting next to Gordon and couldn’t think of a thing to add to that ringing endorsement. “What he said,” Stucker replied to laughter.
Stucker said Goodyear left Indianapolis last year determined to get it right. There have been seven tests at the track with more than 30 drivers logging 13,000 miles and trying out 20 different tire compounds, as well as numerous simulations and tests back in the labs in Akron, Ohio.
But even with all that it wasn’t until recently, according to Kasey Kahne, that Goodyear finally hit on the right formula.
“I've been to every (test),” Kahne said Tuesday. “I mean, even from that point, I felt like Goodyear worked really hard through all these tests. But until two weeks ago, we didn't have anybody that was ready to race this race and put on a great show for the Brickyard 400. Two weeks ago they hit on it.”
The post-mortem on last year’s race determined that the problem was caused by the new car wearing the tires differently and the abrasive nature of the track itself. But Stucker is certain this year’s race will be smooth sailing.
Goodyear’s good name is depending on it.
“We've got our name on the sidewall of every tire, so I think it's extremely important to our whole corporation,” he said. “Like Jeff said earlier, there was nobody that walked out of here as part of this whole group, the teams, NASCAR and Goodyear that weren't disappointed with last year's outcome, and we went to work the very next day. And I can guarantee you within the racing division there hasn't been a day go by that we haven't talked about the Brickyard, the race, our feelings about it and what we're doing. So it's been No. 1 priority for the last 11 months. And again, I think we got it right.”
Doug Demmons is a writer and editor for the Birmingham News ~ he writes daily and weekly auto racing columns ranging from NASCAR to open wheel to Formula One, local tracks and more... you can read Doug's columns online at Blog of Tommorow
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.