Tony Stewart and Good Year tires

[Whizzer]

Tony Stewart. What can anyone say other than he, along with Jarrett, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and the other complaining drivers, are working toward becoming "whiner of the year", with Stewart holding a commanding lead.
So much so, it will be difficult for anyone else to catch him. But then again, we should all remember this is, after all, Tony Stewart.

The big flap is about the hardness of the Good Year tires. Tony said it "uncomfortable" to drive the cars and that you are always on the edge. And Stewart is not the only one making those comments.

All I can say is, what a bunch of wimps !!!!!

The candy azzes today whine because the cars are on the edge ???
Jeepers H. Christopher !!!!!!! How they would have whined if the year was 1950 !!!!!!!
I vividly recall the early days of racing when the cars were stock.
That's stock as in right off the showroom floor.
And the tires were stock.
As in straight from the tire retailer.
No power steering, stock cars, stock tires and no one knew when they would blow out. Races ran over five hours, not three and one-half, no cool suits, fire proof suits and gloves, ventilated helmets or other creature comforts.

The issue of hard tires so they would not blow out, was deflected by Johnny Mantz. In the 1950 Southern Five Hundred, Mantz qualified the slowest car, a six cylinder factory fresh Plymouth, that used hard rubber TRUCK TIRES and became the first winner of the Southern Five Hundred. Beating named drivers who went on to become legends.

And the racing was fun to watch and fun for the drivers.
Most notably, nobody complained. They loved what they were doing !!!!

The more I think about the trials the older generation of NASCAR drivers endured, the more I think guys like Stewart and the other whiners are wusses.

 

[Patrick9999]

I suspect there'd be a bigger uproar if someone put 9 laps on the field and drove around the apron all day at 80 mph.

I agree with what someone said in another thread - let 'em buy whatever tire they want.

 

[MRM]

I have to totally disagree with you Whizzer. Stewart races all kinds of cars, most on dirt. So he know about driving on the edge. But he also know about car control. If the tires are so hard they're not gripping, there is no control.

Atlanta is one of the best tracks on the circuit for racing. There is always lots of passing and lead changes. Most of the passing that took place Sunday was in the form of one guy about to lose it when another one slips by. There was none of that battling for a position lap after lap. The one being passed gave it up without much of a fight.

One thing to remember is Goodyear came with this outside tire because of the Nationwide cars. It has more downforce and is more likely to tear apart the tires. So they had to compensate for that. Since they cannot run two types of tires on a NWS-Cup weekend because of teams sneaking in other tires, they have to run the same tire for two different kinds of cars. One solution would be to have the Goodyear on the side of the tire different colors for the different series. Atlanta is starting to get like Darlington where the surface tears apart the tires. They tried to compensate for that. Again, for two different types of cars. There's the problem.

Also keep in mind that Goodyear came in with a softer left side tire and a harder right side tire. That contradicts each other. The left side wants to grip and turn the car. The right side is harder and will slide. So the cars were fighting themselves during the race, one side trying to grip with the other side with little grip.

If it was just one or two drivers complaining, I'd go along with you. Stewart and Jarrett both said all drivers were complaining all weekend. But Stewart was the only one that had the guts to speak out as loudly as he did.

 

[Mopardh9]

I have to totally disagree with you Whizzer. Stewart races all kinds of cars, most on dirt. So he know about driving on the edge. But he also know about car control. If the tires are so hard they're not gripping, there is no control.

Atlanta is one of the best tracks on the circuit for racing. There is always lots of passing and lead changes. Most of the passing that took place Sunday was in the form of one guy about to lose it when another one slips by. There was none of that battling for a position lap after lap. The one being passed gave it up without much of a fight.

One thing to remember is Goodyear came with this outside tire because of the Nationwide cars. It has more downforce and is more likely to tear apart the tires. So they had to compensate for that. Since they cannot run two types of tires on a NWS-Cup weekend because of teams sneaking in other tires, they have to run the same tire for two different kinds of cars. One solution would be to have the Goodyear on the side of the tire different colors for the different series. Atlanta is starting to get like Darlington where the surface tears apart the tires. They tried to compensate for that. Again, for two different types of cars. There's the problem.

Also keep in mind that Goodyear came in with a softer left side tire and a harder right side tire. That contradicts each other. The left side wants to grip and turn the car. The right side is harder and will slide. So the cars were fighting themselves during the race, one side trying to grip with the other side with little grip.

If it was just one or two drivers complaining, I'd go along with you. Stewart and Jarrett both said all drivers were complaining all weekend. But Stewart was the only one that had the guts to speak out as loudly as he did.

I'd have to agree with MRM, when guys like Stewart start complaining about not having any kind of control there is a problem. Seems to me Good Year could still bring 2 types of tires for both cars and still be able to keep them seperate. just have 2 trailers with an official guarding them, also officials in the garage checking where the tires are going. Doesn't sound hard to me, i think Good year just doesn't want to have to bring 2 different tires to the track, too expensive for them.

 

[MRM]

The tires would have to be color coded or something obvious to see. That way, teams can't sneak in the wrong tires during the other race. It would make it easier to police during pit stops and during the middle of the race. Otherwise, officials won't know which tire is which.

 

[barelypure]

Since 2006 the tires have had an RFID chip in them. All the officials would have to do is check the chips for any that don't belong.

The RFID scanning equipment will quickly read the pertinent information embedded in the sidewall of the tire. Stucker said that tire ID is the first piece of data that will be available through the computer chip. "We are exploring several other data options that will further the technological capability of race tire manufacturing and performance," Stucker added.

 

[MRM]

I wasn't aware of that. Then there is no reason for them to run a different tire for each series.

 

[Magnethead]

exactly. It's uncalled for. Run the specific tires for each series.

 

[wolfcub]

I like this quote:

David Caraviello: Drivers are right to complain about anything that bothers them or makes them feel unsafe. Tony has as much a right to hammer Goodyear as Jeff Gordon does to criticize Las Vegas for not having a SAFER barrier on the backstretch.