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Goodyear changes Kentucky tire after blistering found

Goodyear’s called an audible on the Sprint Cup tire for the race at Kentucky Speedway next weekend.

Goodyear tires

Goodyear tires

Eric Gilbert

Jamie McMurray, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
Kentucky SAFER barrier
Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Goodyear Eagles

Following a two-day NASCAR test on June 13 and 14 featuring 14 different Cup teams, Goodyear saw an unusual amount of wear on the right side tires — which featured a dual-zone tread. The tire manufacturer elected to incorporate what was originally two inches of a more durable compound throughout the entire tread. 

After discovering that the right side tires blistered on longer runs, Goodyear’s director of racing Greg Stucker said the organization scrapped the Michigan tire for something closer to what the teams use at Las Vegas with a revised right-side construction. 

“Some guys were ok, but it just seemed to be too close to stay with what we had,” Stucker told Motorsport.com. “So we decided to go a little bit more conservative and move to a harder compound across the whole tire. But it’s not drastically different from what we’ve raced in the past.”

Kentucky Speedway underwent a complete repave starting in January with an increase from 14 to 17-degrees banking of banking in Turns 1 and 2. By the time construction was complete, Goodyear did not have time for a specific tire test prior to the organizational test. 

With just 24 days between the NASCAR test and next week’s Quaker State 400, Goodyear had to scramble for a solution. Goodyear manufactured 1,200 new tires for the race.

“Everybody knew going in that there always the possibility (of a change) with a repave, right” Stucker said. “Everyone is just prepared to do something like that if they have to. The plant reacted very quickly. We had all the components we needed to react. So we just sat down right away, decided what we needed to do, pulled the trigger and made it happen.

“But it was a big effort on everybody’s part to get it done but that’s kind of what we do.”

Due to the speeds the other tours run, neither the Camping World Truck or Xfinity Series’ tires should be affected by the change and will remain on the same tire package.  

Teams will have four hours and 10 minutes of practice prior to the Saturday night race and Goodyear has worked with NASCAR in an effort to deliver all sets of tires to the teams at the start of the weekend so tire specialists can work on sets throughout the weekend.

“We recommend that teams go ahead a scuff the tires,” Stucker added. “That’s a good thing to do on a repave anyway. The tire seems to come in a little bit faster when it’s scuffed — and plus, it will take some of the heat out. 

“They’ll have plenty of time to do that. They already have extra time built into the schedule.” 

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