Monday night on "Tony Stewart Live" on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio, hosts Stewart and Matt Yocum discussed the race this past Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the controversy over the performance of Goodyear's racing tires. NASCAR President Mike Helton was a guest on the show and discussed the issue with Stewart. The transcript below contains highlights from last night's show.
Tony Stewart: "As much grief as I'm going to give them here in the next 15 minutes about what we had yesterday, they (Goodyear) have done some good things in the sport and they have had sparks of brilliance where we've actually had tires that were actually nice to drive on but I've been a part of the Cup series for 10 years now and problems of blowing tires and getting a bad set of tires, that problem the whole 10 years I've been here has never been resolved and never been fixed."
Stewart: "I'm not overreacting about Goodyear tires. This was my opinion about what we had. I'm the only driver that is in all this that has raced in Sprint car and Midget racing, Silver Crown racing, modifieds, super modifieds, the IRL with Indy cars and stock cars. I'm one of the few guys that has run enough of this stuff to actually know what it is like to have driven for Firestone, to have driven for Hoosier tires, you name it. We've even drove for Goodyear in some of these series but what we had yesterday at this level of competition was not acceptable."
Stewart: "We've complained for years on numerous occasions behind closed doors to Goodyear and the problem doesn't get solved. So maybe this was one of these cases where maybe finally something good will come out of this. And if it sounds like we're whining about it it's because we're trying to get their attention."
Stewart: "For Goodyear to say that they were satisfied with that, if they truly believe that they were satisfied with the way the race went yesterday I'm more disappointed than ever. And I can't believe that NASCAR, at the end of the day, is truly, honestly, happy with the results."
Stewart: "We invited Goodyear to come on [the show] and state their side of it two different times in the last 24 hours and they graciously declined. I think that basically covers what we're dealing with here. I still say the best thing they do in our sport is the trophy. They give the coolest trophy out every year. I will give them 100% credit for that. The gold car they give to the champion every year is one of the coolest things ever but to me that's where it stops. As this sport has evolved they've fallen further and further behind. I don't know what the solution is for it. I'm not a tire engineer. I'm not a tire specialist but whatever they've got going on there in the program they've got right now isn't sufficient to do what we're doing right now in this series."
NASCAR President Mike Helton was a guest on last night's show and discussed the tire issue with Stewart.
NASCAR President Mike Helton: "Tony, we're all well aware of your opinion and you're right to express your opinion, albeit, I think maybe a little bit too strong in this case. What NASCAR asks for Goodyear to do this year as we completely run this new chassis from racetrack to racetrack is, first and foremost, bring a safe tire, a tire that is safe for the competitors to race on. And then bring one that is durable. And certainly bring one that is consistent so that everybody up and down pit road has the same tire as they compete in the events every weekend. I think what we did have in Atlanta was a tire that did not fail and we had a tire that was safe from that aspect and that it delivered in an environment that is a challenge right now because we're going back to a lot of places in '08 with a new chassis, new configurations underneath them by the crew chiefs and the engineers that are throwing challenges at Goodyear. And Goodyear all along the way has stepped up. They have been responsible. They have made a major commitment to put the right tires under NASCAR's national series and we're proud of our relationship with them. That doesn't say we're not going to go into weekends - we have in the past, we will in the future - where there will be challenges and those challenges are what we do and what Goodyear faces and works to fix. And that is nothing unusual in NASCAR. But what we didn't have Sunday was a tire that blew, a tire that failed, a tire that caused a lot of cautions and a lot of incidents that we have had at racetracks, Tony, in your career and certainly in the years that I've been in NASCAR and been a NASCAR fan."
Helton: "I think it is a little bit too much to blame whatever your opinion on Sunday was completely on Goodyear because we're all in this thing together, every crew member up and down pit road, every car owner, every driver, every supplier like Goodyear in the sport that wants it to do good, wants their product to be right. And I think Goodyear has made a commitment to that for NASCAR and for the competitors. Now that doesn't mean we're going to be exactly right every weekend. Sometimes NASCAR does things wrong. We make mistakes and we go back and we learn from them and we fix them. Goodyear's not perfect but they sure try hard and they're not trying any harder than they are today to put the right package together for us. If it's a hard tire in Atlanta when we come back they'll work on it just like we've done in the past when we've gone to races where you get out and think, 'Man, I wish we had a little bit different tire.' The one thing Goodyear does is they look, they listen and they respond and I don't expect them to do anything different in this case. Everybody that watched and was at that race yesterday in Atlanta, I think, will have to admit that it was a safe event. The tires did not fail and, oh by the way, NASCAR has been on Goodyear to harden them up a little bit so they would be durable and keep the corner speeds down with this new chassis. But we'll sit down with Goodyear and talk to them today. Working, actually this week, tomorrow, on the Darlington tires and that's an ongoing process between Goodyear and NASCAR and that won't stop. We work hard to make all the right decisions for the entire industry. And we're proud and pleased to be related with Goodyear. I think they do take their involvement in building race tires for NASCAR's national series very serious and take it very responsibly."
Tony Stewart: "For an example for this weekend, we did the tire test - or it wasn't a tire test but it was a NASCAR open test in the fall last year when we ran for two days so we basically were at the track three days and then stayed over two more days to run the COT in Atlanta. And then we come back to the track and the week before we come back we're told as teams that all of a sudden we're going to be on a totally different tire and get the information on the tire a week before. Why do you think that Goodyear waited so long to make that decision when there weren't any problems at the tire test? What do you think made them make the decision to make such a drastic change between the tire that we tested and the tire that we ended up racing yesterday?"
Helton: "Well, I do know that there was a tire test in Atlanta, that the tire did not wear all the way through a cycle and had some wear problems so they came back and did another test and created the tire that we used yesterday from those tests and from all the engineering they got from all of that, from the open test and from the two tire tests that they did in Atlanta. I don't know the exact flow of information as it might move around in the garage area and from Goodyear to the teams but I do know that this new chassis - we saw this last year [and] we're going to see more of it this year - where the setups that you put under these cars are still somewhat, I think, a work in progress and experiment. And what you can't get out of a tire test, I don't think, I think you can get one team's perception of a setup [and] you get a couple of teams' runs on a test or during a tire test, that doesn't necessarily fit the entire garage area as each driver and crew chief goes to try to build the chemistry underneath these cars setup-wise to make the driver comfortable and, oh by the way, to make the car go faster, because that's the nature of what you guys do. You want this car to go as fast as you can do it. And there's a comfort level that keeps you [from] going any faster sometimes and I think that's what we saw yesterday."
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Stewart: "You can understand from [NASCAR's] standpoint, listening to Mike, what their objective is and what they feel like Goodyear's objective is but I think they would feel totally different about it if we made every one of the high-ranking NASCAR officials ride in the right seat this past Sunday and feel what we felt. I think they might have a little different opinion about it."
Stewart: "I do respect what Mike says and Mike's opinion is I'm overreacting about it. My opinion of it is I don't feel like I'm overreacting at all. I feel very strongly, not only myself but others voiced their opinions about it. I made mine clearer than everybody else, obviously. I think I've been more disappointed in the past 10 years in Goodyear than most of these guys have. I've dealt with them in different forms of racing and there is a consistent variable there that's disappointment in performance and I think that's what leads me to be a little more vocal and opinionated about it than some of the other drivers. My whole theory is maybe if we bark loud enough and long enough maybe the higher-ups will hear the barking and do something about it."
"Tony Stewart Live" airs every Monday (8-10pm ET) exclusively on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio, channel 128. Monday's show re-airs tonight at 11pm/et and Thursday at 10pm/et.(SIRIUS PR)(3-13-2008)
Tony Stewart: "As much grief as I'm going to give them here in the next 15 minutes about what we had yesterday, they (Goodyear) have done some good things in the sport and they have had sparks of brilliance where we've actually had tires that were actually nice to drive on but I've been a part of the Cup series for 10 years now and problems of blowing tires and getting a bad set of tires, that problem the whole 10 years I've been here has never been resolved and never been fixed."
Stewart: "I'm not overreacting about Goodyear tires. This was my opinion about what we had. I'm the only driver that is in all this that has raced in Sprint car and Midget racing, Silver Crown racing, modifieds, super modifieds, the IRL with Indy cars and stock cars. I'm one of the few guys that has run enough of this stuff to actually know what it is like to have driven for Firestone, to have driven for Hoosier tires, you name it. We've even drove for Goodyear in some of these series but what we had yesterday at this level of competition was not acceptable."
Stewart: "We've complained for years on numerous occasions behind closed doors to Goodyear and the problem doesn't get solved. So maybe this was one of these cases where maybe finally something good will come out of this. And if it sounds like we're whining about it it's because we're trying to get their attention."
Stewart: "For Goodyear to say that they were satisfied with that, if they truly believe that they were satisfied with the way the race went yesterday I'm more disappointed than ever. And I can't believe that NASCAR, at the end of the day, is truly, honestly, happy with the results."
Stewart: "We invited Goodyear to come on [the show] and state their side of it two different times in the last 24 hours and they graciously declined. I think that basically covers what we're dealing with here. I still say the best thing they do in our sport is the trophy. They give the coolest trophy out every year. I will give them 100% credit for that. The gold car they give to the champion every year is one of the coolest things ever but to me that's where it stops. As this sport has evolved they've fallen further and further behind. I don't know what the solution is for it. I'm not a tire engineer. I'm not a tire specialist but whatever they've got going on there in the program they've got right now isn't sufficient to do what we're doing right now in this series."
NASCAR President Mike Helton was a guest on last night's show and discussed the tire issue with Stewart.
NASCAR President Mike Helton: "Tony, we're all well aware of your opinion and you're right to express your opinion, albeit, I think maybe a little bit too strong in this case. What NASCAR asks for Goodyear to do this year as we completely run this new chassis from racetrack to racetrack is, first and foremost, bring a safe tire, a tire that is safe for the competitors to race on. And then bring one that is durable. And certainly bring one that is consistent so that everybody up and down pit road has the same tire as they compete in the events every weekend. I think what we did have in Atlanta was a tire that did not fail and we had a tire that was safe from that aspect and that it delivered in an environment that is a challenge right now because we're going back to a lot of places in '08 with a new chassis, new configurations underneath them by the crew chiefs and the engineers that are throwing challenges at Goodyear. And Goodyear all along the way has stepped up. They have been responsible. They have made a major commitment to put the right tires under NASCAR's national series and we're proud of our relationship with them. That doesn't say we're not going to go into weekends - we have in the past, we will in the future - where there will be challenges and those challenges are what we do and what Goodyear faces and works to fix. And that is nothing unusual in NASCAR. But what we didn't have Sunday was a tire that blew, a tire that failed, a tire that caused a lot of cautions and a lot of incidents that we have had at racetracks, Tony, in your career and certainly in the years that I've been in NASCAR and been a NASCAR fan."
Helton: "I think it is a little bit too much to blame whatever your opinion on Sunday was completely on Goodyear because we're all in this thing together, every crew member up and down pit road, every car owner, every driver, every supplier like Goodyear in the sport that wants it to do good, wants their product to be right. And I think Goodyear has made a commitment to that for NASCAR and for the competitors. Now that doesn't mean we're going to be exactly right every weekend. Sometimes NASCAR does things wrong. We make mistakes and we go back and we learn from them and we fix them. Goodyear's not perfect but they sure try hard and they're not trying any harder than they are today to put the right package together for us. If it's a hard tire in Atlanta when we come back they'll work on it just like we've done in the past when we've gone to races where you get out and think, 'Man, I wish we had a little bit different tire.' The one thing Goodyear does is they look, they listen and they respond and I don't expect them to do anything different in this case. Everybody that watched and was at that race yesterday in Atlanta, I think, will have to admit that it was a safe event. The tires did not fail and, oh by the way, NASCAR has been on Goodyear to harden them up a little bit so they would be durable and keep the corner speeds down with this new chassis. But we'll sit down with Goodyear and talk to them today. Working, actually this week, tomorrow, on the Darlington tires and that's an ongoing process between Goodyear and NASCAR and that won't stop. We work hard to make all the right decisions for the entire industry. And we're proud and pleased to be related with Goodyear. I think they do take their involvement in building race tires for NASCAR's national series very serious and take it very responsibly."
Tony Stewart: "For an example for this weekend, we did the tire test - or it wasn't a tire test but it was a NASCAR open test in the fall last year when we ran for two days so we basically were at the track three days and then stayed over two more days to run the COT in Atlanta. And then we come back to the track and the week before we come back we're told as teams that all of a sudden we're going to be on a totally different tire and get the information on the tire a week before. Why do you think that Goodyear waited so long to make that decision when there weren't any problems at the tire test? What do you think made them make the decision to make such a drastic change between the tire that we tested and the tire that we ended up racing yesterday?"
Helton: "Well, I do know that there was a tire test in Atlanta, that the tire did not wear all the way through a cycle and had some wear problems so they came back and did another test and created the tire that we used yesterday from those tests and from all the engineering they got from all of that, from the open test and from the two tire tests that they did in Atlanta. I don't know the exact flow of information as it might move around in the garage area and from Goodyear to the teams but I do know that this new chassis - we saw this last year [and] we're going to see more of it this year - where the setups that you put under these cars are still somewhat, I think, a work in progress and experiment. And what you can't get out of a tire test, I don't think, I think you can get one team's perception of a setup [and] you get a couple of teams' runs on a test or during a tire test, that doesn't necessarily fit the entire garage area as each driver and crew chief goes to try to build the chemistry underneath these cars setup-wise to make the driver comfortable and, oh by the way, to make the car go faster, because that's the nature of what you guys do. You want this car to go as fast as you can do it. And there's a comfort level that keeps you [from] going any faster sometimes and I think that's what we saw yesterday."
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Stewart: "You can understand from [NASCAR's] standpoint, listening to Mike, what their objective is and what they feel like Goodyear's objective is but I think they would feel totally different about it if we made every one of the high-ranking NASCAR officials ride in the right seat this past Sunday and feel what we felt. I think they might have a little different opinion about it."
Stewart: "I do respect what Mike says and Mike's opinion is I'm overreacting about it. My opinion of it is I don't feel like I'm overreacting at all. I feel very strongly, not only myself but others voiced their opinions about it. I made mine clearer than everybody else, obviously. I think I've been more disappointed in the past 10 years in Goodyear than most of these guys have. I've dealt with them in different forms of racing and there is a consistent variable there that's disappointment in performance and I think that's what leads me to be a little more vocal and opinionated about it than some of the other drivers. My whole theory is maybe if we bark loud enough and long enough maybe the higher-ups will hear the barking and do something about it."
"Tony Stewart Live" airs every Monday (8-10pm ET) exclusively on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio, channel 128. Monday's show re-airs tonight at 11pm/et and Thursday at 10pm/et.(SIRIUS PR)(3-13-2008)
