During the 1992 US Presidential elections Bill Clinton used the phase, “It’s about the economy stupid”, on his way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup season may be best described as, “It’s about the tires stupid.”
All too often during races last season we saw team after team take advantage of clean air. Tires were wearing only marginally and it was all about track position. The best cars were often shuffled back in the field as pit strategies often dictated the outcome of races. Cars that took only two tires and in some cases no tires were still faster than four tires as long as they were out front. Made for some of the worst racing in memory.
Goodyear has sure fixed that, huh? On the short track at Richmond, many drivers could be heard on their radios asking their spotters and Crew Chiefs how many miles they had on a set of tires. When it got over the 45 lap mark teams got nervous. When the laps on tires reached 50, teams were sweating bullets.
While the fans enjoyed a tremendous race at Richmond, many drivers were none too pleased with the rubber under their cars. Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Rickey Stenhouse Jr., and Reed Sorenson all had tire issues.
It appeared that when the inside of the front right tire wore, it shredded and wrapped itself around the wheel and suspension of the car causing two cars to erupt in flames. Clint Bowyer and Reed Sorenson both drove cars after a pit stop with visible flames shooting from under their cars. Both drivers were able to safely exit their vehicles but their night was over.
After the race Goodyear talked about the importance of the cars to have good balance and not a lot of camber. They did admit that the tire gave little leeway to the teams in terms of setup. NASCAR officials agreed.
Randy Pemberton, NASCAR Vice President of Competition said, “The tire was adjusted properly on many of the cars and I think some of them took it overboard.
He went on to admit some further work with the tires may be needed. “I’m sure Goodyear is more than happy to test and build another tire.”
Defending Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson was not sure what caused his tire issues. “I’m not sure why we had tire issues. That kind of put an end to our night.”
Kyle Busch was not at all happy with the tire. “It’s just too hard and too hard of a compound for here. We were basically on ice out there.
Jeff Gordon, one of the drivers who seemed to manage the tire wear well said, “I think the idea behind the tires is to make them more durable. I think there needs to be more research to perfect it.”
While the teams were highly critical of the tires, make no mistake that the tires played a major role in another fantastic NASCAR Sprint Cup finish. Joey Logano hung on in the end to nudge out Gordon for the win but even more action occurred behind them.
As is typical at a short track some tempers flared. Matt Kenseth was accused by Brad Keselowski of hard breaking during a restart causing Keslowski to slow down. Keslowski later on hit Kenseth’s car all but ending their chances of a victory.
And further back in the pack Marcus Ambrose and Casey Mears were upset with each other, and it resulted in Ambrose throwing a punch at Mears. Nothing like short track racing.
Stu Grant, Goodyear’s General Manager of Worldwide Racing said, “It’s pretty likely that we will test (tires) again prior to the September return to the Richmond International speedway”.
Let’s hope they don’t change too much. After all it’s all about the tires.
On to the super speedway of Talladega. My picks.
1) Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2) Jeff Gordon
3) Matt Kenseth
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