Goodyear + Nascar = huh?

[Jimbarrt]

OK, I decided to try and give this stupid nascar thing another chance. Daytona was a good race, that stupidity with the weather last week sucked, and the LV race this week did little to excite me. Cars got spread out, not much passing, not very competitive.

But whats up with the tires? All these blowouts--somebodys gonna get hurt. Can't Goodyear create a tire that holds up? If not, why doens't Nascar allow other tires? I mean, if they allow Toyotas in the car mix, why not allow other brands of tires? Firestone, Hoosier, etc. One more way they could make racing more competitive, is, uh, with competition [get it?] among tire suppliers.

How many tire blowouts were there, anyway? I just don't get it...

[Adobedude]

Goodyear recommends tire pressures for each tire, but the crew chiefs pretty much do their own thing to get the cars to handle....BOOM, into the wall.
Not alwyas Goodyears fault, but a crew chief trying to make a shitty car turn.

[Jimbarrt]

But if the crew chiefs aren't happy with the way the tire performs, why aren't they allowed to switch brands?

Yeah, I get the part about Nascar getting lotsa money to say, " Goodyear is the official tire of nascar", but if the tire can't perform, thats, well, prolly not a good thing.

Allowing competing brands raises the level of competition, the result is better tires and better racing, but thats not Nascars goal, unfortunatly for fans.

[Trueblue R/T]

screwy nascar rule that states if a tire maker furnishes tires for one car they have to bring enough tires for every car for the whole weekend..hoosier tried it and went broke..

[nbrtguy]

My uncle is a NASCAR official and the reason they all use Goodyears is because after years of testing and racing they are the safest tire. They have an inner liner built into them that actually helps alot. In the event of a blowout,yes the tread may fly off but the inner liner holds just enough air to get them back to the pits. As for allowing other brands into the mix,yes it has been tried. However as mentioned above a tire manufacturer has to supply enough tires for every team for every race. And just as the car of todays body shape is identical for each car,the tires and rims are identical. We all know that there is not much "stock" about a stock car. All cars run a Currie 9" rear end (Ford based) and a 4 speed manual transmision (Muncie based) with a Hurst shifter,MSD ignition and Holley carbs. None of which is factory on any of the race cars of today. You ask where the compitetion is,well thats where the drivers and crew chiefs come in. All things being equal,its up to them to find that extra 10th of a second per lap or run three wide thru turn 4 at Talladega. I'am not looking to start any flame wars here I am just stating facts direct from a Nascar official.

[Nolan]

Like David said, tire pressures play a big part as does the alignment. Some crew chiefs put as much camber in as NASCAR will allow them in an effort to make the car handle to suit the driver's preferences. Before NASCAR set a limit some teams put so much camber into the right REAR tire that they were suffering wheel bearing or axle failures.

Some of the teams are also setting up the front suspension so the car is actually running on the bumpstops at speed. Which puts more load on the tires even when/if the suspension doesn't bend and screw up the alignment even more.

Goodyear builds the best tire they can and then they pray the teams don't figure out some new way to torture the tire in their quest to shave another tenth off their lap times.

Nolan

[Adobedude]

But if the crew chiefs aren't happy with the way the tire performs, why aren't they allowed to switch brands?

Yeah, I get the part about Nascar getting lotsa money to say, " Goodyear is the official tire of nascar", but if the tire can't perform, thats, well, prolly not a good thing.

Allowing competing brands raises the level of competition, the result is better tires and better racing, but thats not Nascars goal, unfortunatly for fans.

Remember when Hoosier was also allowed in NASCAR, the tire wars made it very unsafe for the drivers, so I feel this is one area there can't be any competition between manufactures...

It's how the cars are set up plain and simple.

[Special Ed's R/T - Yaaaay]

Remember when Hoosier was also allowed in NASCAR, the tire wars made it very unsafe for the drivers, so I feel this is one area there can't be any competition between manufactures...

It's how the cars are set up plain and simple.


too much positive camber is generally what's going on here.