Sounds like a few in the NASCAR world are not happy..

GA_Boater

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I'm surprised the tires last as long as they do in a race. Look at a Cup car head on and the tires are going in four different directions. And with four different casters and toe -ins/outs. I wish nascar would allow Hoosier in for some tire competition. Cup has a lot more cars at a single race than all the Indy cars put together, so there is room for more than one tire supplier.

But to be fair, the Cup teams do push past the limits imposed by Nascar and Goodyear. And say "Who? Me?" :smile:
 

MTboatguy

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I have never understood, why, if a tire meets the specs of NASCAR, why they are limited to one manufacture, of course I enjoyed the days when each team built their own engines also.
 

GA_Boater

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The specs probably say the tire needs a winged foot on the sidewall. :doh:
 

joed

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I have never understood, why, if a tire meets the specs of NASCAR, why they are limited to one manufacture, of course I enjoyed the days when each team built their own engines also.

Because NASCAR has an exclusive agreement with Goodyear $$$$ just like they do with Sprint for phones and Sunoco for gasoline. Those corps pay big bucks for the rights.
 

MTboatguy

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Oh, I understand corporate sponsorship, I had an agreement with a bow company and arrow company when I shot archery competitively. But I would not shoot dangerous equipment so turned down other agreements due to that fact. With the problems they have had with tires the last couple of years, it seems they would do some looking around.
 

thumpar

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I remember when I was a kid the teams could choose Hoosier or Goodyear. That was also when the cars were really "stock" cars just prepped for racing though.
 

MTboatguy

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The guys at Goodyear, know these top competitors are going to run at the edge and should be gearing tire development based on that, it certainly would not be bad for anyone, but plan and develop for the worst. Other than the odd ball occurrence, there is no reason that the tires should be giving out the way they have been. When you have 3 top contenders have the same problem in one race, that is not good.
 

aspeck

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Hoping this latest round of rubber wars opens up the tire use age to other manufacturers. Would make for interesting story lines of corp sponsorship for teams vs what is best on track. Teams would stop complaining about the tires they HAVE to use and start working WITH the manufacturer who pays them to make the set-up work with the tire.
 

bassman284

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I'm surprised the tires last as long as they do in a race. Look at a Cup car head on and the tires are going in four different directions. And with four different casters and toe -ins/outs. I wish nascar would allow Hoosier in for some tire competition. Cup has a lot more cars at a single race than all the Indy cars put together, so there is room for more than one tire supplier.

But to be fair, the Cup teams do push past the limits imposed by Nascar and Goodyear. And say "Who? Me?" :smile:
Yeah, one thing you can count on in racing, be it NASCAR, IndyCar or Formula 1, is that the teams will abuse the crap out of the tires and blame the tire manufacturer when it goes wrong. I don't follow NASCAR close enough to understand the tire drama there, but I do follow Formula 1 where tire drama is intense.

A few years ago, Pirelli became the sole tire supplier for F1 when Michelin and Bridgestone decided they didn't want to do it anymore. In Pirelli's first year the big complaint was that the tires were TOO GOOD. Two compounds are supplied for each race, one a bit softer than the other, and teams are required to use BOTH compounds during the race thereby guaranteeing at least one pit stop. Refueling is not allowed. That year many teams would start on the softer of the two compounds (better grip, quicker cornering) and run that tire almost the whole race, only stopping late because they were required to change tires at least once. Fans were outraged. "It's not interesting!!"

So FIA instructed Pirelli to make a tire that would degrade faster, forcing at least 2 pit stops per race. Pirelli followed orders like good soldiers and the following the tires were like toilet paper. In some cases, the soft compound would only last 8 or 9 laps before they had to be yanked. Fans were outraged. "Pirelli sucks! They can't make a good tire!!"

Fact is, Pirelli can make as good a tire as you want them to. There were a few years when Michelin and Bridgestone were supplying that the FIA rules required that one set of tires last the whole race. Both B and M managed quite nicely other than the occasional puncture. Biggest challenger was for the drivers - take care of the tires and DO NOT flat spot. Really the only penalty for changing tires was the time lost by the extra pit stop which in F1 is a death sentence. If reuired, I'm confident Pirelli could make a tire that would last for 3 races. It wouldn't be fast, but...

Point is, I don't know what Goodyear has been tasked with by NASCAR. As GA points out, you see cars out there with the darn tires pointing all over the place with weird staggers, casters, toe-ins, etc. They run pressures all over the place and blame Goodyear if their strategy doesn't work out. My guess is Goodyear could build a tire that would stand anything the boys threw at it, but you would be seeing ~170 mph laps at Daytona. AND THE FANS WOULD BE OUTRAGED!
 

QC

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It is the same in NASCAR ^^^^^^^. Goodyear is tasked to make a perfect tire for different style tracks. One that wears right, handles right, is forgiving if abused, handles different track surfaces, higher speeds due to repaving and makes for a good race. Other than that, the job is easy.
 
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