Goodyear talks about the extreme tire wear in the Cup Series race at Bristol

Goodyear talks about the extreme tire wear in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. What did Goodyear have to say?

NASCAR never could have expected the type of tire wear it saw at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday. The drivers started the race by running 30 to 40 laps before the tires would fall off a cliff and gradually increased to at least 50 laps near the end. It was shocking to see the cars falling out of nowhere and losing seconds per lap.

During the Final Stage, Goodyear racing director Greg Stucker talked to the media about the tire wear. Stucker was surprised to see the type of tire wear but acknowledged that it was a concern before the NASCAR Truck Series race on Saturday night.

“It’s still a bit of an unknown as far as why it’s not behaving the same…that being the racetrack,” Stucker said. “But that’s kind of what we know now. Obviously, everybody is kind of in the same boat but some guys are able to manage through it a little bit better than others. It’s still a tough situation, and we’re going to have to try and understand exactly what’s happening, what’s different, and adjust from there.”

“Everybody got together and expressed concern, but we decided to wait and see what happened with the [NASCAR Truck Series] race. The truck race went exactly like we expected it to. It put rubber down immediately, tire wear was in line with what we have historically seen, so it’s a little bit unclear as to why we’re not seeing that same thing today.”

It was surprising, but Denny Hamlin was glad to be racing as he won his first event of the 2024 NASCAR season. Goodyear must determine why the tires worked in the Truck Series but not the NASCAR Cup Series. The rubber must lie on the track to balance zero and extreme tire wear. Yet, NASCAR was undoubtedly pleased with the racing and thought it was one of the best short-track races ever.

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NASCAR needs tire wear in the Cup Series, can’t be too extreme

The NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway proves that tire wear needs to exist but it can’t be too extreme. Find out why!

NASCAR entered Bristol Motor Speedway hoping to put on a show, but it never could have guessed what was coming. The first few runs during the NASCAR Cup Series race featured extreme tire wear that lasted only 30 to 40 laps. The drivers and teams adjusted to where they could last 50 to 70 laps on tires near the end.

However, some drivers simply didn’t have the car to save tires and go fast. Several vehicles were going at a snail’s pace 30 to 40 laps into a run, even at the end of the race. Watching the tires fall off was entertaining and pleasing but simply too extreme. NASCAR needs tire wear in the Cup Series, but there needs to be a balance.

Goodyear should be able to find a balance between zero and extreme tire wear. Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney, two Cup Series champions, certainly believe there needs to be a balance. The race was more about saving tires than anything else. That is a relief for the NextGen car, which has been track position-based since its debut in 2022.

Yet, it is still reasonable to admit that Sunday’s race at Bristol was too extreme. It was a step in the right direction but way too far. If Goodyear can find that fine line, short-track racing in NASCAR could be on the rise with the NextGen car. It may take some time to figure out whether it was an anomaly, but at least the tires show wear.

Was it an entertaining race to watch? Of course! However, this isn’t something that can happen weekly. It isn’t something that should happen too often. The hope is that tire wear can exist everywhere within reason. Anything extreme like Bristol could spell trouble in the future. It is good to see for NASCAR, but it can’t be overdone.

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Chase Elliott gives his thoughts on the tire wear situation at Bristol

Chase Elliott gives his thoughts on the tire wear situation at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday. You don’t want to miss what Elliott said!

[autotag]Chase Elliott[/autotag] didn’t run in the top 10 spots most of the day at Bristol Motor Speedway until it mattered the most. Elliott saved his tires well on the last two runs and climbed up the leaderboard for an eighth-place finish. It was a massive relief for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion, who finally secured his first top-10 finish of the season.

Following the event, Elliot talked to the media and expressed some satisfaction about the race weekend. Yet, he doesn’t want to do this weekly as it remains a different form of racing.

“I actually thought it was a lot of fun,” Elliott said. It was more in our hands than probably ever has been. I don’t know if you want that every week, but it was really fun and refreshing. It was kind of cool that you could kill your tires if you weren’t smart about it. You could make them last…I thought that was really neat. I just hope we don’t overreact.”

The Hendrick Motorsports driver enjoyed the race but doesn’t want NASCAR to overreact. Hopefully, NASCAR and Goodyear listen to the drivers and find a difference between no and extreme tire falloff. If so, the Cup Series could be heading in the right direction on short tracks after struggling in the NextGen car.

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Kyle Larson provides brutal honest opinion on the racing at Bristol

Kyle Larson provides a brutal honest opinion on the racing at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday. You don’t want to miss what Larson said!

[autotag]Kyle Larson[/autotag] entered Bristol Motor Speedway looking to bounce back after a rough weekend at Phoenix Raceway. It looked like Larson would finish outside the top 10 spots after the final caution due to a penalty, but he cycled up the field during green-flag pit stops. The driver of the No. 5 car eventually finished in fifth place.

Following the event, Larson talked about the tire wear and racing at Bristol. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion wasn’t shy about his thoughts and whether he would want to race like that again.

“It was weird and interesting,” Larson said. “I thought some rubber was going to be laid down, but after the second run, we realized that wasn’t going to be the case. I hope I never have to run a race like that again. It wasn’t fun to ride around like that. You never really knew how to manage your stuff.”

“Then there at the end, we were all dying and whatnot, and everybody’s afraid to pit because you just didn’t want to get caught on pit road with somebody spinning out and then you’re laps down.”

Larson clearly prefers to never race with that type of tire wear again, and it is hard to blame him. The tire wear was too intense, and while it should be present, it needs to be maintained to a certain degree. The Cup Series race at Bristol exceeded that limit. It was entertaining to watch, but it’s not something that should continue into the playoff race.

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Ryan Blaney expresses frustration over tire wear at Bristol, Ross Chastain

Ryan Blaney expresses frustration over the tire wear at Bristol Motor Speedway and Ross Chastain. Find out what Blaney had to say!

[autotag]Ryan Blaney[/autotag] appeared to have the best car following practice and qualifying at Bristol Motor Speedway. However, Blaney never really had the car to beat after getting passed by Josh Berry at the start of the race. The extreme tire wear didn’t fit with his car at Bristol, and he ended up coming home with a 16th-place finish.

Following the event, Blaney spoke to Frontstretch about Bristol’s tire wear and race. The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion didn’t have a good day, and comments about the event showed it.

“I didn’t have fun,” Blaney said. “What’s fun about riding around, grouping around there. You can’t run 50 laps unless you blow a tire, and you’ve got guys blowing stuff, creeping around the racetrack. I can’t believe there wasn’t an accident.”

“You know what it reminded me of, the first half of the race? It reminded me of Daytona fuel saving…literally, we were two-by-two, creeping around there at quarter-throttle, saving your tires, and you just don’t know whether you wanted to go or not. They say they brought the same tire, but it’s complete B.S.”

Then, Frontstretch asked Blaney about his run-in with Ross Chastain. Blaney wasn’t having it after a tough day.

“I’m tired of you asking me [Ross Chastain] questions. No thanks.”

Blaney didn’t have a great day at Bristol and he is clearly tired of Chastain on the race track. It has been a crazy start to the 2024 NASCAR season, and the Team Penske driver hopes it goes his way next weekend. Blaney hasn’t won at Circuit of the Americas but will look to win his first road course since the inaugural Charlotte ROVAL event.

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NASCAR executive says Bristol was one of the ‘best short track races ever’

NASCAR’s John Probst says the Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway was one of the “best short track races” he has ever watched.

NASCAR went to Bristol Motor Speedway and didn’t expect the tire wear it witnessed on Sunday. The cars could only run 50 to 70 laps on tires and at the beginning of the race, it was around 40-50 laps. The tires wouldn’t put rubber down on the race track, so they would shred apart. At the end of the day, Bristol had set a new record with 54 lead changes.

Denny Hamlin won the race with only five drivers on the lead lap. Following the event, NASCAR Chief Racing Development Officer John Probst addressed the media and discussed the race. It certainly sounded like a success to Probst, who gave the event high praise.

“It was certainly a record-setting day for us,” Probst said. “I know the race teams are probably pretty wore out right now. I know our track crew and folks up in the booth are pretty wore out just from a pretty exciting day all around on the track. Certainly had some anxiety around some tire wear and things like that. All in all, I think it was probably one of the best short track races I’ve ever seen.”

NASCAR may have enjoyed the event and it was very entertaining; however. some drivers believed the tire wear was too extreme. When NASCAR returns to Bristol in September, the racing will likely be a little different if Goodyear brings changes. If so, there could be rubber laid down on the race track and much-needed tire wear to make the racing exciting.

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Denny Hamlin talks about incredible win at Bristol in March 2024

Denny Hamlin talks about his incredible victory at Bristol Motor Speedway after extreme tire wear in March 2024.

[autotag]Denny Hamlin[/autotag] entered Bristol Motor Speedway looking to go back-to-back after winning the playoff race at the venue in 2023. Hamlin qualified in third place, and that speed never went away. The No. 11 car was one of the best entries all day and survived the extreme tire wear. Hamlin beat teammate Martin Truex Jr. with only five cars on the lead lap.

After winning his first race of the 2024 NASCAR season, Hamlin got out of his car and talked about the event. It was a wild day that capped off with a victory for one of the sport’s most successful drivers.

“That’s what I grew up here doing in the short tracks in the Mid Atlantic, South Boston, Martinsville,” Hamlin said. “Once it became a tire management race, I really liked our chances.  Obviously the veteran in [Martin Truex Jr.], he knew how to do it as well. We just had a great car, great team. The pit crew just did a phenomenal job all day. Can’t say enough about them.”

“First time Express Oil Change on the car. Appreciate all the Mavis folks as well. FedEx, Coca-Cola, the whole group. Man, it feels so good to win in Bristol.”

Hamlin’s victory marked the second straight for Joe Gibbs Racing after Christopher Bell dominated at Phoenix Raceway. Toyota has been really strong since the non-superspeedway races and heads to Circuit of the Americas looking for another victory. If the trends continue, Toyota and Hamlin look to be in for a very big year.

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How to watch NASCAR live at COTA in March 2024, weekend schedule

Find out how to watch NASCAR live at Circuit of the Americas in March 2024, including the NASCAR weekend schedule!

NASCAR is leaving Tennessee after a wild weekend of racing at Bristol Motor Speedway. Denny Hamlin survived the extreme tire wear to beat Martin Truex Jr. at Bristol. Now, NASCAR will head to Circuit of the Americas, the place of the sport’s sixth weekend of the 2024 season. All three NASCAR levels will be on the track, so you don’t want to miss the action!

Below, you can find more details about the on-track action at Circuit of the Americas this weekend!

NASCAR live today: Circuit of the Americas

Here are the upcoming practice, qualifying, and race times for the current race weekend on the NASCAR schedule (all ET).

Friday, March 22

  • 3:30 p.m.: Truck Series Practice (FS1)
  • 4:00 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (FS1)
  • 5:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice (FS1)
  • 6:00 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (FS1)

Saturday, March 23

  • 10:00 a.m.: Cup Series Practice (FS2)
  • 11:30 a.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (FS1)
  • 1:30 p.m.: Truck Series Race: XPEL 225 (FS1)
  • 5:00 p.m.: Xfinity Series Race: Focused Health 250 (FS1)

Sunday, March 24

  • 3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Race: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix (FOX)

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Hamlin, Gabehart stress ‘it’s supposed to be hard’ after wild Bristol

Bristol Motor Speedway winner Denny Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gabehart spent their post-race news conference adamantly expressing that there was nothing wrong with Sunday’s race. “It was challenging,” said Hamlin, who admitted his thoughts were …

Bristol Motor Speedway winner Denny Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gabehart spent their post-race news conference adamantly expressing that there was nothing wrong with Sunday’s race.

“It was challenging,” said Hamlin, who admitted his thoughts were biased. “A different kind of challenge, for sure. Certainly (it was) not something we’ve had to do for a very long time in managing tires. Lesson learned early on. I kind of ran a certain pace, a certain line, wore my tires out.

“From that point on, I made some adjustments internally. He (Gabehart) made some adjustments to the car that allowed me to just manage it from that point on. Once it got into that tire management type of race, certainly my history in late models where you had to do that big-time certainly paid off.”

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Goodyear described the tire wear as “too drastic” and was searching for answers on what changed from the fall race. Hamlin agreed that being able to run 40 to 50 laps on a set of tires was too small of a window, but the lesson was what happens when there is tire wear with drivers either moving forward or falling backward as they manage their tires.

“This is the first time the driver played a huge role in a long, long time,” Hamlin said. “Long time. It’s a different philosophy from what we’re used to, which is everyone is just kind of on the gas all the time, running the bottom, the shortest way around. Technique was a huge deal (Sunday).”

Gabehart has long preached that drivers and crew chiefs need more control of their race. One of the first things Gabehart mentioned was that Goodyear didn’t deserve any criticism for the tire, which should be different from the strong one the company makes for a road vehicle.

“Honestly, while it’s hard on (tires) yes, yes, it’s supposed to be hard,” Gabehart said. “You’re supposed to see these guys struggle. You’re supposed to see the 25th-place car look like a mess, and the team’s trying to figure out how to rebound and rally, help him understand this run management didn’t work, or the leader is running too hard this run. Tell your driver, ‘You weren’t in the lead this time, this happened,’ let him adjust inside (the car).

“It’s supposed to be hard. This is not supposed to look easy. I think this is what you see when you make it hard.”

It was an unexpected development. There appeared to be no significant issues during the first half of practice, but the track started to change when the second group of drivers got their chance to make runs. By qualifying, drivers were slipping and sliding around the concrete half-mile and beginning to wonder what had changed.

On Sunday morning, NASCAR reapplied the resin spray in the lower lanes of the corners. It didn’t take long in the race to see that tires would be the variable, and it became an event about who managed their sets the best. NASCAR then approved Goodyear to release an extra set of tires in the second stage.

“There’s not a single driver, single crew chief, engineer that planned on this,” Gabehart said.

Hamlin hopes the industry – and fans – don’t overreact. He and Gabehart felt Sunday was a learning experience.

“I’ve been saying for a while from my little microphone when anyone asks is that we got to stop talking badly about Goodyear in these situations,” Gabehart said. “This is not bad. Goodyear can make a million-mile tire that I have on my car when I get to the airport and drive home. It’s fantastic. I never have any trouble with it. This is supposed to be sport. It’s supposed to be hard.

“It’s supposed to force these guys to make decisions in the car. Do I go now? Do I not? The crew chiefs to make decisions on how they treat the tire, what their setup is, how long do you want to run this stint. You can’t just run the fuel tank out and the tire not blow. It might blow on you.

“That last green flag stop when we called him in, I can’t tell you how stressful it was. If NASCAR throws a caution when I’m on pit road, I’m in a lot of trouble. He knows it. But he’s telling me, ‘Hey, this tire is about to blow out.’

“Finally, you look up, and you’re thinking strategy the whole time. I’ve ran this many green flag laps, there will be this many till the end. Who is pitting, who is not? We looked like a jalopy out there compared to cars with tires. You’re trying to manage all that. That right rear tire wasn’t going to make it two more laps and we would have had a flat tire like so many others. What I want everyone to understand is that is not bad.”

Bristol tire management leaves drivers bemused but happy

NASCAR Cup Series drivers were tasked with an unexpected challenge at Bristol Motor Speedway, and most came away with positive reactions. Sunday’s Food City 500 was a tire management race. A quick pace around the half-mile concrete oval produced …

NASCAR Cup Series drivers were tasked with an unexpected challenge at Bristol Motor Speedway, and most came away with positive reactions.

Sunday’s Food City 500 was a tire management race. A quick pace around the half-mile concrete oval produced high tire wear, with some teams experiencing blown tires or cording.

“I have never seen anything like that,” Josh Berry said. “I guess we got our wish with the tires falling off, but I don’t know. They fell off but it’s like they fell off a little bit and then all at once when they went to cords. I don’t know what the change is that you need there. Obviously, they need more rubber on them because we were running on fabric at the end.

“I think I finished with like three flat tires, and the car was on fire in 11th. I kind of had fun, though. I’m not going to lie. That might be the biggest (expletive) show I’ve ever been a part of, but it was kind of fun.”

There was a track record of 54 lead changes. At times, the field was packed together and running side-by-side for multiple laps as if at a superspeedway race.

“It was an interesting day,” Brad Keselowski said. “There was a lot of discipline required, and it was a fun race, to be honest, because you just had to be so smart behind the wheel. It would bite you in a heartbeat, and you had to have a good setup. I think we had a good setup and tried to run the smartest race I could.”

During longer green flag runs, when tire conservation came into play, drivers slowed the pace of the race down to over an 18-second lap time. But Keselowski noted that looks can be deceiving.

“It ain’t no parade lap,” he said. “You’re still hauling the mail. It’s different, but you’re just managing.”

Goodyear felt the tire wear was too drastic and will be digging into the data. NASCAR’s John Probst, however, thought it was one of the best short-track races he’d ever seen, and his initial reaction was not to make changes for the fall race aside from giving teams more tires.

“That was definitely the craziest race I feel like I’ve ever been a part of in the Cup series,” Chase Briscoe said. “We normally just run every lap as a qualifying lap and you might save a little bit, but you’re never going that slow to save tires. It was definitely bizarre how it all played out, and green flag pit stops, and it was like you had 1000 more horsepower than the field when you were on new tires.

“It was nuts. It was unfortunate circumstances from a racing standpoint, but for us to end up 13th for as crazy of a race as it was, we were definitely way better than 13th.”

Justin Haley said he loved Sunday’s race.

“I don’t know what social media says, but as a driver, I thought it was fun because you had to manage it,” Haley said. “You weren’t all-out the whole time, so it was fun to have a major part in how the car ran.”

A few drivers equated Sunday to grassroots short-track racing. It’s not uncommon to be limited on tires or have to manage tires at a local short track on a Saturday night.

“I was joking with the guys that it’s just an oversized Pensacola with tire wear,” John Hunter Nemechek said. “I grew up short track late model racing – places that you had to manage tire wear till the end of the run. We were able to do so.”

Said Keselowski said, “The drivers have been asking for the tires to wear out more and we got it. If we were like a two on a 10 scale, this was a nine or a 10. Maybe there’s a middle ground somewhere. It was definitely a different race.

“I had a lot of fun. I felt like you had to be really smart. It’s good to have something different every once in a while.”

Todd Gilliland said, “For the middle part of the race, it gave me really big flashbacks of a Myrtle Beach race back in the day (where) you see guys go three-wide and there’s just going up (the track), and then you kind of get stuck and there’s nowhere to go. But a place like that it’s different because you kind of wear out and just slowly lose spots. But this, you would really fall off a cliff. It was tough.”

Kyle Larson, however, was the outlier in his opinion of the experience.

“If I knew I was only doing this one time, I would say that was kind of fun,” Larson said. “It was weird to have to manage, guess on how hard to run, guess how each run was going to play out. You were kind of constantly in traffic and managing distance to people in front and behind. So, the strategy side of that in the driver’s seat was kind of fun, but I would never want to do that again.

“To have to run a race like that every week would be not good, and it’s honestly probably a black eye to Goodyear just with all the rubber that couldn’t get laid down and just wearing through tires and all that. It was different and we somehow made the most of it and somehow got to fifth.”

A few other notes from Sunday’s race:

It did not feature the new short-track package teams ran at Phoenix Raceway last weekend. It was the same package run at Bristol last year, the race package NASCAR uses at every track (except where the short-track/road course rules package is run).

The left-side tire was the same one that’s been run at Bristol since the fall of 2022 and the right-side tire ran at Bristol in the fall of 2023.

Resin was sprayed at Bristol in the lower lane of each corner.

The high temperature on Sunday in Bristol was 62 degrees.