NASCAR Drivers : Goodyear's New Tire Compound Sucks

[Facetious]

Stewart, Earnhardt think bad of Goodyear's tires
Hope voicing displeasure leads to changes in compound


HAMPTON, Ga. -- The balancing act between safety concerns and competition that Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. faces each week was the post-race focus of several top finishers Sunday. It left both sides defensive and fans wondering what happened to the typical side-by-side racing for which Atlanta Motor Speedway is famous.

Tony Stewart, who finished second in the Kobalt Tools 500, and third-place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr. were outspoken in their criticism for the tire compound brought to Atlanta. There were no tire failures reported during the race, but the two agreed that the harder tire made it almost impossible for drivers to run side-by-side. Only thirteen cars were on the lead lap at the finish.
"Goodyear doesn't like to hear people bashing them tires and I don't like doing it, but I ain't going to sit here and put up with this."
DALE EARNHARDT JR.

"That was the most pathetic racing tire that I've ever been on in my professional career," Stewart said. "... Goodyear can't build a tire that is worth a crap. If I were Goodyear, I would be really embarrassed about this weekend and what they brought here. It didn't keep us from winning the race and how we got to second, I don't know (hear more)." cont'd . . . ->

http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/hea...wart.dearnhardtjr.jgordon.goodyear/index.html

 

[BNF]

I mostly roll with Goodyears and have done for the past 5 years or so. There have been the occasional Yokohamas thrown in too.

This is surprising to me, even not knowing about or caring about Nascar. Goodyear has, for me, been a real torch bearer for the best that the USA can make.

 

[Friday on my mind]

I mostly roll with Goodyears and have done for the past 5 years or so. There have been the occasional Yokohamas thrown in too.

This is surprising to me, even not knowing about or caring about Nascar. Goodyear has, for me, been a real torch bearer for the best that the USA can make.

Your going to get emotional responses like Stewarts right after a grueling 500 mile race where the car was a real handfull,which they were,plus he has a rep for saying stuff he regrets later in such situations.This really has little to do with Goodyears passenger commercial tire biz.It's more about them figuring out what kind of tire will give decent wear while also having the grip needed to have decent racing(Hard vs soft) with the new car they are all using this year which was only used in some places last year.The car has lees downforce than the old cars and some nascar teams are pointing to that as the real problem.

 

[BNF]

It's really similar to the Michelin fiasco in F1.

But, to the consumer (which is why they do it afterall), it is meaningless if the divisions are only just sharing a name (Goodyear, Michelin whatever). It's the headlines and the publicity - a poor quality products reflects over the entire product line. It's perception.

To the point: I'd like to know if GY R+D had the cars in Akron or whether they were spec'd on blueprints. I imagine the engineers will have an entirely new compound, minimum, by the weekend.

 

[pancha]

I doubt the quality of their racing tires reflects the type of quality of tires we use for our casual everyday driving. we are comparing apples to oranges if you look at it from that perspective.

Overall, I agree that they make good tires on the consumer end, but I am sure there are better performance tires out there.

 

[Brown Eyes]

Goodyear aren't really under pressure in NASCAR to make a tyre that performs to the maximum and therefore their priority is safety. They provided a safe tyre at Atlanta yesterday - how many failures were there? None significant. Yes, the cars slid a bit but that is a lot to do with the car. It's very top heavy and generates a lot of sideways inertia as well as the fact it has little downforce.

I really think Stewart should stop being such a whineing drama queen for once in his life and just shutup. I'm all for speaking your mind, but what he said was just downright ignorant and stupid. He's quite the attention whore.

Hell, I enjoyed watching those cars moving around. It was fun. The drivers adapted and got on with it!

 

[D-rock]

There is a risk and reward part you have to balance in most things in life. I think some people need to understand that racecar driving has always been inherently risky at some level. If it were all about the drivers’ safety they wouldn't be letting them get into the cars and race in the first place. At some level everybody has to except that the risk exist and that you can't always do everything to make the cars unquestionably safe. I do think they went too far with the tires to make them safe compared to the extra risk that was involved with going with tires with better grip. Of course maybe Goodyear should have made a better tire that could do both.

 

[Juiceman]

BNF...you don't run your car 189 miles an hour in the corner do ya??? I'l bet you don't run race tires either. I go to the races and work security at several tracks. These race tires loose bits and sometimes chunks of rubber every lap. Can't compare them to what the public drives on. If the drivers feel unsafe...someone must step in. It's their lives on the line.

 

[Facetious]

What was it that K. Busch said shortly after taking the checkered flag ?

Paraphrasing - Something to the effect of - Those were the worst tires that I've ever won on.

 

[georges]

Most of my uncle cars and my ****** cars had good year tires on them. I always find good year tires to be extremely good and giving a good response and handling under all conditions. My uncle's 1970 eldorado has the good year eagle gt+4 tires which are extremely responsive and give superb fast cornering to the car. Good Year introduced the first commercial rain tires in 1992 with the Aquatred, my uncle had Aquatreds which were mounted on his 1970 fleetwood, he used them during ten years and it was according to him the best tires he ever had. My ****** has Good Year Hydra Grips mounted on his car and they are fantastic tires. Good Year has been present in formula 1 from 1965 till 1998 and they invented the rain tire and the first real high performance tire. Good Year has a shitload of experience with racing tire technology wether it comes to F1, ALMS racing, cart/indy car racing, nascar and drag racing
http://www.racegoodyear.com/about/history.html
http://www.racegoodyear.com/about/fast_facts.html

 

[17tobyracing]

Goodyear has a closed market with NASCAR and the lack of another tire competitor creates mediocrity. Why would Goodyear work hard to make the best NASCAR tire when all of the teams have to run them anyway? Goodyear hasn't had to compete with another manufacturer in NASCAR since the mid-90's, when Hoosier made a run at it. Hoosier built a damn good tire and a the few teams that opted to use them had very good results, including Geoff Bodine.

Now Hoosier has an exclusive tire deal for USAC's pavement races, no other tire manufacturer can be used. Guess what? Hoosier's USAC tires are junk because they have a closed market...

Additionally, a company's racing tires have absolutely nothing to do with thir commercial tires. Hell, Goodyear was making bias-ply tires for NASCAR up until quite recently...

 

[Facetious]

Is this something that will just take a few races to iron out and everybody will get used to them after a while ?

 

[17tobyracing]

Is this something that will just take a few races to iron out and everybody will get used to them after a while ?

Well, these teams and drivers are obviously dealing with the differences between the COT and the old car. I think this has compounded the problem. However, Goodyear has experienced tire compound problems in the past. Goodyear develops a specific tire compound for each track, generally based upon preseason team testing. There is obviously room for error in this process and no real incentive to get it absolutely right, since all teams must use whatever Goodyear brings to the track.

I doubt you will hear any complaints as open as those made by Stewart, as NASCAR will hit Tony with fines for his comments. Additionally, I'm sure that the powers to be at Gibbs Racing are not too happy. I'm sure they are not going to benefit at all from the potential brush off they will get from Goodyear...