A lot of criticism has been leveled at Goodyear over the past few months regarding short track tires. On Sunday, (May 21) Goodyear Racing Director Greg Stucker announced that changes are coming, and that a new compound will be used for the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July.
Stucker told the media that a new compound used at a test in New Hampshire in April had “1.5 seconds more fall off than we’ve seen historically there. Again conditions are different from when we race there in July.” The hope is that more tire fall off will lead to more competitive racing on short tracks moving forward.
Stucker’s announcement came amid happiness over the way Goodyear’s wet tire compound performed last night in the heat races at North Wilkesboro Speedway to set the field for the All-Star Race.
“I think we proved we can race in conditions we said we wouldn’t race in on oval tracks… the rain tire did exactly what it was meant to do,” Stucker continued.
Driver Denny Hamlin expressed pleasure with Goodyear in general and the wet tire specifically. “I’m more encouraged that Goodyear can build a tire that is really fast to start and falls off,” Hamlin said. “We got the blueprint, we really should spend some time working on this for other short tracks.”
Stucker agreed, calling Hamlin’s comments “spot on.”
The NASCAR All-Star Race begins with the All-Star Open at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
About the author
Garrett joined Frontstretch as a news writer in 2023, and became a fantasy racing and betting writer in 2024. Hailing from the heart of coal country in southern West Virginia, he's a married father of three and currently enrolled in the Physical Therapy Assistant Program at New River Community Technical College in Beaver, WV.
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