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The "good old days" ??
Dustin Long
Goodyear pleased with tire test at Martinsville
Goodyear did a tire test at Martinsville on Tuesday and Wednesday with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte, David Ragan, Brad Keselowski and Jeff Burton.
The test came after some issues at Martinsville in the spring when the track did not take on as much rubber during the weekend and created some issues for competitors.
Dale Jr. and Ragan both told me that the track took on rubber well on Tuesday. Greg Stucker, director of racing for Goodyear was pleased with the results, saying in a statement:
"We believe we had a very successful test at Martinsville this week. First of all, thanks to all five of the teams involved for coming prepared to log a lot of laps, particularly with the quick turnaround from the rain-delayed Watkins Glen race. Most of the guys ran almost 700 laps each during the test.
“After our initial short runs on Tuesday, Wednesday was devoted to long runs, and we completed 14 of those among the five drivers. Our goal was to optimize the levels of grip and wear resistance with the right tire combination, and we believe we identified some good candidates to do that. Obviously, we'll have to go through the test data in more detail to finalize our recommendation, but we're confident we'll have a nice new package for the Martinsville race in October."
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The fact that Goodyear is moving away from tires that last forever toward tires that rubber the track is great news. It may not do much for Martinsville, but the racing at other tracks may once again develop that second groove racing we all enjoy.
A tire with balanced wear could do a lot to avoid fuel mileage racing, and could even balance out the aero deal a little. A tire that rubbers well is softer, and all those cars that stayed out on 4 or even 2 old tires would have had a distinct disadvantage that we didn't see this year.
Goodyear pleased with tire test at Martinsville
Goodyear did a tire test at Martinsville on Tuesday and Wednesday with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte, David Ragan, Brad Keselowski and Jeff Burton.
The test came after some issues at Martinsville in the spring when the track did not take on as much rubber during the weekend and created some issues for competitors.
Dale Jr. and Ragan both told me that the track took on rubber well on Tuesday. Greg Stucker, director of racing for Goodyear was pleased with the results, saying in a statement:
"We believe we had a very successful test at Martinsville this week. First of all, thanks to all five of the teams involved for coming prepared to log a lot of laps, particularly with the quick turnaround from the rain-delayed Watkins Glen race. Most of the guys ran almost 700 laps each during the test.
“After our initial short runs on Tuesday, Wednesday was devoted to long runs, and we completed 14 of those among the five drivers. Our goal was to optimize the levels of grip and wear resistance with the right tire combination, and we believe we identified some good candidates to do that. Obviously, we'll have to go through the test data in more detail to finalize our recommendation, but we're confident we'll have a nice new package for the Martinsville race in October."
--------
The fact that Goodyear is moving away from tires that last forever toward tires that rubber the track is great news. It may not do much for Martinsville, but the racing at other tracks may once again develop that second groove racing we all enjoy.
A tire with balanced wear could do a lot to avoid fuel mileage racing, and could even balance out the aero deal a little. A tire that rubbers well is softer, and all those cars that stayed out on 4 or even 2 old tires would have had a distinct disadvantage that we didn't see this year.
) tires usually develop more low groove racing and the dreaded rubber ball effect ( where loose rubber in the higher grooves turn it into Hello Wall Land ) I am glad their doing some testing though.