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Indy Proves NASCAR Needs Tire of Tomorrow
7/31/08: SOZ Studios, MI - By Dennis Michelsen "DMIC" (RaceTalkRadio.com)
The one size fits all mentality never works in racing! Last weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway we were all introduced to tire failure at a magnitude seldom seen in NASCAR racing before. Today I do NOT jump on the bandwagon moaning and groaning about who is to blame. Instead of beating that old mare to death and sending her to the rendering plant I will offer some ideas on where NASCAR should go from here. Indy proves that NASCAR needs a tire of tomorrow to go with the car of tomorrow!
Where We Are Now
Not all of the races this season have been a bomb. But it is fair to say that each track this season has been more of a challenge to the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company than ever before! Testing procedures and tire compounds that worked in the past might not work as well in the future with the new car design. The new Cup car has a higher center of gravity and doesn't share the tire abuse as well between the right and left side tires. Crew Chiefs were in love with the coil binding setups on the old car and have yet to find that "Magic Bullet" with the new car to make them handle as well. These new cars also have less down force than the old cars making the mechanical grip of the tires more important. Combining the higher center of gravity with less down force has made tires respond in ways that are not completely understood. As we head through the hot summer months the lack of grip will be even more of an issue!
Testing, Testing, and More Testing
NASCAR teams have gotten hooked on their seven-post shaker rigs and computer modeling but nothing beats good old fashioned testing at the track. Before the Car of Tomorrow was rolled out I was shocked at the lack of testing. NASCAR is big business with billions of dollars on the line yet they didn't invest their own money in testing. Teams were also handicapped in how they could test the new car although a few figured out that having their own test teams and getting their own tires made could help immensely. NASCAR and Goodyear need to do their own testing to figure this car out faster! Not everyone agrees with my logic on this subject. "I don't necessarily think that NASCAR needs its own test team," said Dave Moody from Sirius Speedway. "Nobody gives better feedback on the car and the tires than the men who race them every week." But the individual teams look at testing as a way to gain an advantage on the competition not as a way to make the car better. Once the Car of Tomorrow is fully understood that strategy might work fine but until then NASCAR needs to take a more active role in testing. Right now NASCAR needs to give Goodyear the data they need to make a better tire. Maybe that means a wider tire. Maybe that means new compounds. Testing, testing, and more testing might answer those questions faster!
Immediate Changes Before the Tire of Tomorrow
Even if NASCAR implements a testing team and also gives Goodyear the latitude to come up with the best tire no matter what changes might be needed with the car, that procedure will take time. We need an immediate quick fix to our current problem! The big money teams can test at different tracks and then computer model their way to a solution. NASCAR needs to open up testing the rest of the season to allow teams to test on the tracks they will be competing on the rest of the season! Forget weekly trips to Kentucky Speedway, let teams test Kansas or Lowe's Motor Speedway before those races this year. "I wholeheartedly agree that NASCAR needs to schedule more full-blown open tests at tracks where we have no yet run the new car," said Moody. "We need to test at the tracks where the COT has not yet run or at tracks where the results have not been wholly satisfying. That should do it." NASCAR needs to scrap their current testing rules for the good of the sport until the new Cup car is fully understood by Crew Chiefs and drivers. The result will be better racing for the fans!
Conclusion
NASCAR had planned a slower roll out of the new car design. Teams were already hurting due to increased costs of doing business and campaigned for a full season of the new car before it was ready. NASCAR can salvage a great Chase to the Championship if they scrap the current testing rules. At the very least all tire tests conducted by Goodyear should include four teams not three so each of the manufacturers is represented. But opening up testing at all of the tracks will give teams a better understanding of how this new car will respond. Goodyear needs to look at finding a "happy medium" rather than a perfect fit until they really understand the wear and tear these new cars do to the tires. The new car might eventually require Goodyear to prepare for two different kinds of tires and implement the right one based on weather and wear experienced in testing. NASCAR and the teams asked a lot of Goodyear and last week at Indy they could not deliver. Indy proves that the car of tomorrow needs a tire of tomorrow and only extensive testing, research, and creativity will fix the problem and lead to better racing for the fans!
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