Greg Stucker said tire wear is a smart thing to do in a NASCAR race, but the magnitude seen Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway was unforeseen and too big.
“I agree that the goal is tire wear,” Stucker, Goodyear’s race director, said during a stop at the press center during the final leg of the Food City 500. “That’s what other people wanted to see. This creates arrivals and stopovers and who best manages the tires. But we thought we were in a really smart position last year with the tyre when we raced it in the autumn and everything is different now. So it’s too drastic.
The Cup Series groups suffered tyre and top string wear since the green flag on Sunday. This forced the drivers to slow down the race speed to save rubber, looking to make a full race on fuel without problems. However, a series of incidents and warnings led NASCAR to allow Goodyear to provide an additional set of tires to the teams at the start of the second stage.
Ten sets of tyres were available for the teams taking part in Sunday’s race. In addition to having nine games left for the race, teams could only come within one game of qualifying.
“We tested here last year with the aim of providing a set of tyres that would generate more wear; that was the call from NASCAR and the teams,” Tucker said. “We felt like we did a very successful test. We think we had a very successful race in the fall of last year because that’s precisely what we did. We did a complete fuel cut, we actually saw some wear and tear, but we thought it was perfect. So now we’re looking to find out what’s different: why is the circuit behaving this weekend compared to a year ago?
The excessive stringing is due to the track not picking up rubber.
“If you look at the corners, the rubber on the tire wears out and just doesn’t grip the track,” Sucker said. “That’s why you see all the marbles in the corners. And again, last August, rubber was needed without delay. As is the case with concrete, if you run with caution, it will pick it up. We see it in Martinsville, we see it in Dover, we see it here. But as soon as we go back to green, it hardens up and just doesn’t happen. “
Goodyear has brought the same left-side tyre code that it has implemented in Bristol since autumn 2022. The right-hand side made his Bristol debut in the autumn (after what was discussed through Stucker).
“It’s the same package. It’s the same combination of tires,” Stucker said. “Obviously, the difference is that resin was placed in the rear slot instead of PJ1. Still, I still think the circuit deserves to use rubber like last year. Goma: This race was needed without delay.
“We still don’t know why it doesn’t behave the same way, it’s the circuit. But that’s what we know now. Obviously, they’re all in the same boat, but some guys need to do a little bit better. “than others. The scenario is still complicated and we will have to check it to perceive precisely what is happening, what is different, and adapt from there. “
NASCAR has sprayed the resin into Bristol’s bottom groove since the track dominated the top lane in previous years. It was rolled out on-track at the start of the weekend and reimplemented Sunday morning after Saturday night’s Craftsman Truck Series race.
“Everyone came together and expressed concern, but we decided to wait and see what happened with truck racing,” Tucker said. “The truck race went exactly as we expected: the rubber collapsed immediately, the tyre wear was in line with what we’ve noticed historically, so it’s not clear why we don’t see the same today.
Celso Neto will return to the Skip Barber Racing team in 2024, driving the No. 22 in the TCX class of TCX.
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