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When NASCAR visited the
Atlanta Motor Speedway
last spring, a hard tire
compound was chosen over
a softer compound due
reliability issues. The
soft tire would last
only a few laps but
handle well, and the
hard tire would last
longer than a fuel run
but present a terrible
race.
Kyle Busch dominated on
the hard tire, slipping
and sliding off of every
corner to hang on to his
Car of Tomorrow. The
racing was dreadful, and
had fans and drivers
screaming for a better
product from Goodyear.
People complained, but
not one car hit the wall
because of a flat tire.
When it came time to
test tires at the
Indianapolis Motor
Speedway, drivers found
a similar situation.
This time the test
proved to be futile.
Goodyear went with the
softer compound at Indy,
and the tires proved to
be as long-lasting as
Tony Stewart’s patience.
Jimmie Johnson’s eight
lap practice run was the
most any car ran until
race day, and the no.
48’s tires were worn
down to the cords. Tire
wear was expected to
improve with 43 cars on
the track laying a thick
sheet of rubber, but
that plan backfired.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and
Juan Montoya had tires
go flat. Mark Martin
wasn’t able to make it
to the first competition
caution before coming in
for new right sides.
NASCAR was forced to go
to competition cautions
after a brief green run
to make sure no tires
blew. The system
created a heat race type
of scenario, but wasn’t
effective for a few
reasons.
Even through all the
tire troubles, teams
were willing to take two
tires for track
position. Going for a
two tire strategy
defeats the original
purpose of having the
competition yellow.
Drivers would also
settle into their
positions late in a run,
making for boring and
unadventurous racing.
Knowing tire problems
were coming all weekend,
Goodyear brought in
Pocono tires to give
teams some extra sets.
The company deserves
some credit, although
very little, for trying
to alleviate the
situation.
Each time the yellow
flew, fans booed NASCAR
officials like a zebra
striped referee at a
football game. The
whole ordeal brought out
the worst in NASCAR as
an organization, and
fans of the sport. But
NASCAR could have done
better with the given
situation.
Six lap competition
cautions? Please. One
lap to catch the pace
car, one to pit, and
then back to green.
Long cautions forced
happy NASCAR fans into
being an endangered
species. There’s no fun
in paying money to see
cars drive as slow as
their haulers will skip
back to North Carolina.
What an awesome scenario
it would have been if
rather than pitting
under a competition
yellow every 15 or so
laps, teams were given a
window where they were
forced to pit under
green? Green flag pit
stops demand excellence
from the whole team, and
would create more parity
on the track than a race
slowing yellow.
It’s a shame that the
whole situation
happened, but if
Goodyear would have gone
the safe route we would
all be talking about how
bad the racing was. It
was truly a lose/lose
situation, but safety
has ruled over
excitement since the
death of Dale Earnhardt
in 2001.
Here’s to hoping NASCAR
puts thrill and risk
back into the races
sometime soon, or more
aluminum will show every
week in the stands.
You can
contact Jonathan at
jlintner@gmail.com
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