Comments on: Is Tire Fall-Off the Way to Fix “Broken” Tracks?

By: bob emmons

bob emmons — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:37:56 +0000

Go to a 50 or 100 lap race on a short track and you can see tire drop off. It is also obvious which drivers know how to manage tires without slipping them. Plus you get to see a better race for a lot less money.

By: RA Eckart

RA Eckart — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 02:27:49 +0000

Since Goodyear runs a business, they have considerations for selling tires on Monday in addition to providing race tires that make great races. Both considerations make them build tires that don’t fail. If NASCAR throws new cars at you, tracks throw new surfaces at you and crew chiefs throw new setups at you, and you have minimal research available, you’re going to build a harder tire just to be safe. Tires only stand out in races when they fail. So unless they get bad PR for a tire too hard (rare), they’re gonna keep erring on the hard side because the PR from blistering tires or tires with bad beads is way worse. And they have decades of sales research to prove this.

By: SpacemanSpiff

SpacemanSpiff — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:56:41 +0000

The problem isn’t with Goodyear; it is with NASCAR. Goodyear is in this to develop their tire technology (improve the breed); all tires, regardless of purpose are a compromise. Why do I say the problem isn’t with Goodyear? Because NASCAR allows only one tire manufacturer and more importantly, allows that company to bring only one type of tire to each event. Let Goodyear bring two, three, or even four different tires to each event (IndyCar’s Firestone brings two). Crew chiefs would then have to decide between excellent short-term grip but a tire that “falls-off” rapidly or having a tire with less overall initial grip but doesn’t fall-off much and lasts longer. Also, NASCAR needs to let Goodyear develop a wider tire that is more suitable to the COT rather than forcing Goodyear to continue within the design boundaries of the tire for the pre-COT car. Then, fix the damn aero problems with the COT, change the point system to further encourage leading, running up front, and finishing in the top-5, and the result would be that many of these boring races would be a thing of the past.

By: Sandeep Banerjee

Sandeep Banerjee — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 08:41:38 +0000

F1 cars don’t get faster in a run anymore. It is a shame that F1 has more falloff in their tires now than NASCAR. Goodyear needs to stop bringing these rocks to the track. It’s made the racing so static. There are no comers and goers through a run anymore and everyone is hotlapping the whole time with no passing on the big tracks.

By: Spencer

Spencer — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 04:33:34 +0000

Personally i have thought since sometime last year that they should make a tire that gives up (not necessarily in tire wear) halfwy through a fuel run so the people who would be fast at the start would fall off and the drivers easy on their tires go to the front at the end and also there would be a big unknown at the end when there might be/might not a caution. It would also help with the fuel milage races too.