'TIRED'
Harsh words for hard tires
By Reid Spencer,Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service, March 11
HAMPTON, Ga. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. wasn't invited to a tire test at Darlington Raceway on Monday, but after Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he was determined to crash the party.
Earnhardt's concern surfaced in the aftermath of Sunday's race, where he finished third. In a postrace news conference, Earnhardt and race runner-up Tony Stewart were far more interested in expressing their outrage at the hard tire Goodyear brought to Atlanta than in basking in the elation of their respective top-five finishes.
"I'm really excited that I didn't crash," said Stewart, who has been Goodyear's harshest critic. "That was half the battle in itself. Been racing 28 years and been a part of a lot of different professional series, and I've never seen a quality of racing tire like I've seen this weekend. ...
"If the rest of the year, if that's what we've got to look forward to is weekends like this, there will be a lot of drivers going into retirement a lot earlier, because nobody's going to want to keep doing this like this."
Stewart, admittedly, trades in hyperbole to get his points across. Earnhardt typically does not. Yet, as the news conference progressed, the level or Earnhardt's frustration escalated.
"There's a big difference between complaining and stating the obvious," he said. "You know, it is what it is. It's not a complaint. It is what it is. ... I don't think, for one, that the race was all that exciting. We couldn't run side-by-side -- we'd wreck, you know.
"They said they'd give us the (tire) data earlier in the year, around Daytona or before, but no amount of time would have prepared you for that. You weren't going to hook that tire up. It was way too hard."
Goodyear's stonewall response was as hard as the tires the company supplied for the race. Justin Fantozzi, manager of Goodyear's race tire sales and marketing, reiterated the same boiler-plate language he had told a smaller group of reporters the day before.
"There are 43 drivers and 43 crew chiefs and 30 owners -- that's 120 opinions," Fantozzi said.
When most of the opinions are roughly the same, however, it's called a consensus. On Sunday, it wasn't just the Cassandra voice of Tony Stewart bashing the tire compound. It was a chorus that included a core group of the most popular, high profile drivers in the sport.
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Toyota angry after being only manufacturer not invited to Goodyear tire test
By David Newton
ESPN.com
Updated: March 10, 2008, 5:43 PM ET
Testing Tires on Darlington's New SurfaceDARLINGTON, S.C. -- Toyota officials weren't pleased to be the only manufacturer not invited to the Goodyear tire test on Monday at Darlington Speedway.
Goodyear officials said only two to three manufacturers typically are invited to test on a rotating basis, and that for this test the rotation was Chevrolet [Jeff Gordon] and Ford [Greg Biffle] for the tires and Dodge [Ryan Newman] for data acquisition.
They stood by this plan even though four teams have attended several previous tests and despite a request by Toyota to attend.
"It's not going to put us at an advantage by any means," said Andy Graves, an official for Toyota Racing Development.
Not being at Darlington became even more of an issue after Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway where Toyota driver Tony Stewart blasted NASCAR's official tire distributor after finishing second to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch.
"If I were Goodyear I'd be very embarrassed about the tire they brought this weekend," Stewart said. "It was ridiculous. If they can't do better than that, pull out of the sport. I guarantee you that Hoosier or Firestone could to a better job than that."
Stewart claimed the tire Goodyear brought to the 1.54-mile track was so hard that it ruined the race for the competitors and the fans. Others echoed his sentiment, but nobody was more outspoken.
There were no such complaints on Monday. Graves simply wanted Toyota to have a presence.
He talked to Sprint Cup series director John Darby about Toyota being left out as late as Friday. He said Darby assured him that Newman would be sent home as soon as the data had been collected and not allowed to participate in all of the two-day test.
Graves argued as long as three teams are at a test the fourth shouldn't be omitted.
"It feels like it puts us at a little disadvantage," he said. "I know NASCAR and Goodyear are trying to work to make this more fair in the future."
Goodyear ran into a similar situation a year ago at Darlington when Juan Pablo Montoya took several laps for Chip Ganassi Racing even though teammate Reed Sorenson was the scheduled driver.
After what Biffle called "kicking and screaming" by Roush Fenway Racing owner Jack Roush, Roush was allowed to test a Ford on the second day.
"After that there was a policy of having all four manufacturers at every single test," Graves said. "That has continued until a test or two ago."
Invitations for Monday's tests went out months ago. Goodyear spokesman Mike Siberini, asked why Toyota was not invited, reiterated that this was part of the normal rotation.
He said it had nothing to do with Stewart's comments in Atlanta.
"We needed three teams to do a test," he said. "These were the three teams that were invited."
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DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) -- A day after Tony Stewart assailed Goodyear for the tires it provided at Atlanta Motor Speedway, three other drivers echoed his complaints - but without the same venom.
"I think he went a little overboard," four-time series champion Jeff Gordon said. "He kind of made it personal."
Gordon, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman all tested tires for Goodyear at the newly paved Darlington Raceway on Monday, and all agreed the rubber at Atlanta wasn't favorable for driving conditions.
But none was as angry as Stewart, who said Goodyear gave him "the most pathetic racing tire I've ever been on in my professional career."
Goodyear officials participating in Monday's test refused comment, and the garage was closed to media. Still, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Casey Mears and Brad Keselowski crashed the test and took a spin on the new surface in an SUV.
But the tire company issued a statement defending its Atlanta product, while promising to retest the rubber before the series returns to the track in October.
"We provided what we believed were the best possible products for the races this past weekend," the company said. "We believe that our engineering, research and tire development is second to none. We accept that drivers will have their own opinions about tires.
"Even though both Goodyear and NASCAR were satisfied with the tire's performance in Atlanta, if the drivers are not happy, then Goodyear's not happy."
Stewart, who wrecked two races ago in Las Vegas when his right front tire blew, was unhappy all weekend in Atlanta.
Gordon said he spoke with the two-time champion before Sunday's Cup race, and "could tell he was pretty wound up about it."
After the first green flag run, when it became clear that grip was lacking on the tires, Gordon knew Stewart would be irate after the race.
"We were all pretty out of control out there," Gordon said. "I don't disagree with him as far as the comfort level in the situation we were in. But we have to look at all sides of this and try to give the folks that are doing their jobs the ability and constructive criticism to try to do it better."
Newman agreed with Stewart's sentiment that the hard compound made the tire difficult to drive on around Atlanta's abrasive surface. But he cited Goodyear's emphasis on safety in saying Stewart overreacted in his assessment of the tires.
"The tire thing is a little blown out of proportion," Newman said. "There's a lot of things he said that were true. Obviously, he took it to another level. That's Tony. Everybody is different.
"But I don't know of anybody who popped a tire, or that had a tire issue to the point where we had tire problems. Is there a grip issue? Borderline. Yeah. Is there justification in some of Tony's comments? Probably. Did Tony overreact? Probably."
Stewart, meanwhile, continued his rant on his weekly Sirius Satellite Radio show and was adamant he was not overreacting. After an on-air debate with NASCAR president Mike Helton - in which Helton seemed to side with Goodyear's slant toward safety in Atlanta - Stewart claimed his criticism is the only thing that might trigger changes.
"I think they would feel totally different if we made every high ranking NASCAR official ride in the right seat Sunday and feel what we felt, Stewart said on "Tony Stewart Live."
"I do respect what Mike says. Mike's opinion is I'm overreacting. Mine is I don't feel I'm overreacting at all. Maybe if we bark loud enough and long enough, the higher-ups will do something about it."
Goodyear also defended itself against accusations Stewart made that the tire company was chased from several other racing series.
"They got run out of Formula One. They got run out of CART, the IRL. They got run out of World of Outlaws sprint cars. They got run out of USAC divisions because they couldn't keep up and make a quality enough product," Stewart said on Sunday.
Goodyear called Stewart's remark an "erroneous comment" and said it decided to leave other racing series "only because of the escalating costs of competition."
Goodyear is the exclusive tire provider for NASCAR and not subjected to competition from rival companies. Goodyear also hand-picks the drivers who participate in each tire test, and maintains it rotates its choices through teams and manufacturers.
But in bringing three cars to Darlington representing Chevrolet (Gordon), Dodge (Newman) and Ford (Biffle), Toyota felt snubbed by its exclusion. Stewart drives a Toyota but the manufacturer said Goodyear selected the participating teams before Stewart's complaints.
Sprint Cup program manager Andy Graves said he unsuccessfully lobbied NASCAR for Toyota to be included in the test.
"It feels like it puts us as at a little disadvantage," Graves said.
Goodyear said the manufacturer needs only two to three teams for collecting data, and the exclusion of Toyota wasn't deliberate.
Updated: March 10, 2008, 8:23 PM EST 24 comments add this RSS blog email print You know folks, I think the name says it all.
Goodyear does not make good day tires, they make good year tires. You kind of average it out — sometimes you nail the tire combination and it's perfect, sometimes you err on the wrong side and you get in trouble with people blowing tires, and sometimes you are too conservative.
I wish that all of us — drivers and everybody else — would realize the challenge that Goodyear is facing with this new car.
I understand. I've driven on tires that absolutely make me want to scream, I've also won races on tires that were far from perfect. But the thing you gotta realize is that you can't change your pick and choose what you want to race, everybody has the same tire. That's what Goodyear has to deal with.
The other challenge the tire manufacturer faces is situations like this weekend, where they had three different vehicles they had to make tires for — the Craftsman Truck Series on Friday, the Nationwide Series on Saturday and the Sprint Cup cars on Sunday. All three of those vehicles all have different downforce numbers and they all race differently, so Goodyear has to get it in the middle when they are facing that type of situation.
You got a new car that has a lot of unknowns, has a lot of right-side weight and less downforce. Remember, the Nationwide car and the trucks produce a lot more downforce, which puts more pressure on the tires.
So when you take all those elements and put them all together, you have to go with the choice that is not only the safest tire but is also the best tire for all three series.
The tires at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, from the time the guys tested them in December and then in late January to when they arrived for the race last week, was a good tire and it was fast. Nobody complained about the handling of the car, but you saw a few guys have tires issues — Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch come to mind.
Then you go to Atlanta Motor Speedway, which is a really fast racetrack with quite a bit of banking — 24 degrees — so you have to err on the side of safety. You have to be a bit conservative when going to a track with a new car like that which you are not sure about. Goodyear is like the teams, they don't have any information to look at. They don't have any results or data to look at on past experiences because it was the first time the Cup Series raced at the 1.54-mile track with the new car.
I'm not making any excuses for Goodyear, and I'm not driving a car, but I do understand why the drivers were upset. You cannot fix a race car with tires alone. Tires do make a huge difference, but everybody has to anticipate in order to not only correct the problems but also help improve the situation.
NASCAR and the teams have to get involved and help the car. Everybody has to do their part, and no one person or group can take the blame. NASCAR can't take all the blame for the car not having all the front-end geometry that these teams like and Goodyear can't take all the blame for putting tires on the car that frustrated many drivers.
And oh yeah, to my knowledge, no tire failures took place over the weekend other than on Kyle Busch's Nationwide Series car on Saturday, but I'm pretty sure that happened because of a part failure and not the tire itself.
We all call Atlanta Motor Speedway "The fastest track on the circuit." You can't show up there with tires that can take that sort of abuse.
That's my take on the tire thing. I can understand the drivers being upset. I think that in order to make the drivers happy with the car, Goodyear has to be a bit on the edge as far as their tire selections go — but my history with Goodyear makes me believe that they aren't going to do that. That's not their style.
Everybody wanted a car that was harder to drive, everybody wanted to put the race back in the driver's hands and have teams stop relying on aerodynamics and other things they have focused on all these years. Yesterday, it was back in the driver's hands. Guess what? They didn't like it and they were not very happy
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For as long as they have been making tires I still think they could have brought a better tire Sunday.IMO they should have stuck with one they tested already.
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For as long as they have been making tires I still think they could have brought a better tire Sunday.IMO they should have stuck with one they tested already.
yuppers.....
and toyota feels left out? probably a not so subtle reaction to a toyota drivers remarks?
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But it's still not fair to leave them out of a tire test just because of what 1 person said like they are doing at Darlington yesterday.
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Dale Jarrett urgets Goodyear to listen to Tony Stewart's tire complaints
By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)—Dale Jarrett on Tuesday called on Goodyear to listen carefully to Tony Stewart’s complaints about the tires the company has produced this season.
Although some drivers believe Stewart went overboard in his criticism of Goodyear following Sunday’s race in Atlanta, Jarrett said the manufacturer needs to start constructing a better tire for Sprint Cup racing.
“I have no problem with what Tony Stewart said. I’m a huge supporter of Goodyear and all that they have done over the years, but somebody needs to wake up right now and listen to these guys,” said Jarrett, the former series champion who is retiring following Sunday’s race in Bristol, Tenn.
“We’re talking about race drivers that have a huge amount of talent and very seldom complain about things like that.”
Stewart was livid with Goodyear all last weekend, when he complained about a lack of grip on the hard tires the company sent to Atlanta. Following his second-place finish, the two-time series champion said Goodyear gave him “the most pathetic racing tire I’ve ever been on in my professional career.”
Goodyear has staunchly defended its product. But Tuesday, Texas Motor Speedway officials said Goodyear will not bring the Atlanta tire to its track for next month’s race.
Atlanta and Texas are essentially sister tracks with identical layouts and the same 24 degree banking in the corners.
Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were among the many drivers to echo Stewart’s complaints after the Atlanta race, but a handful of drivers on Monday decided Stewart went too far.
“I think he went a little overboard. He kind of made it personal,” Gordon, the four-time series champion, said. “We were all pretty out of control out there. I don’t disagree with him as far as the comfort level in the situation we were in.
“But we have to look at all sides of this and try to give the folks that are doing their jobs the ability and constructive criticism to try to do it better.”
Goodyear said in a statement Monday it was pleased it had no safety issues because of the hard compound it brought to combat Atlanta’s abrasive surface. Still, the company promised to re-evaluate before returning to Atlanta in October.
“Even though both Goodyear and NASCAR were satisfied with the tire’s performance in Atlanta, if the drivers are not happy, then Goodyear’s not happy,” the company said.
That sent Stewart on a second rant Monday evening on his national radio show.
“If they truly believe that they were satisfied with the way the race went … I’m more disappointed than ever,” Stewart said on Sirius Satellite Radio. “And I can’t believe that NASCAR, at the end of the day, is truly, honestly, happy with the results.”
As the exclusive tire provider of NASCAR, Goodyear is not subjected to competition from other manufacturers. And NASCAR can’t allow other companies to enter the sport for risk of a “tire war” in which manufacturers are putting safety at risk while trying to develop a faster tire that teams will select.
On Tuesday, Jarrett said he has gone to NASCAR before to urge the sanctioning body to mandate Goodyear develop separate tires for the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series. In using the same tire, the rubber must be strong enough to withstand a significant amount of downforce in the Nationwide cars.
The Cup cars have roughly 400 lbs. less downforce, and don’t need such a hard tire, Jarrett said.
“We can’t race the same tire on the Nationwide cars that is going to be any good for the Cup cars. That’s just plain and simple,” Jarrett said. “You’re not going to be able to put on a good show. These guys cannot drive these cars to the point of putting on a good race for the fans, which is what our sport was built on.
“So somebody is going to have to swallow their pride right now, and we are going to have to have two separate tires done there.”
Kyle Busch, the current Cup and Truck Series points leader and winner of both series’ races in Atlanta, also disliked the tires and said Tuesday he wants Goodyear to make different sets for the three different series.
“You have to build a tire that’s different for all three vehicles, or at least different for the Nationwide from the Cup car in order to be able to make everything work out right,” Busch said. “At Atlanta, the tire was too hard for all three vehicles.”
Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage is also lobbying NASCAR for a test at his track before its April 6 race, in which Goodyear will use not the Atlanta tires but essentially the same compound it used last season.
“Failing that, we would encourage NASCAR to add practice time to the race weekend schedule to give teams a bit more time to get comfortable with this new car and tire combination,” Gossage said. “We hope after the Atlanta race that they will see the wisdom behind our suggestion.”
TIRE WARS
It’s Time Goodyear Had Some Competition
By Greg Engle,Editor Cup Scene Daily, March 12
Tony Stewart hasn’t cooled off.
The two-time champion continued his rant against Goodyear Tuesday and his target was none other than NASCAR president Mike Helton.
The controversy began this past Sunday after the Sprint Cup race at Atlanta. Despite a second place finish after it was over Stewart railed against Goodyear and the harder tire compound they brought for the right side of the cars for the event.
Stewart certainly wasn’t alone in his complaints. Many drivers spoke out about the tires and their lack of grip. Several were concerned enough to travel to a Goodyear tire test at Darlington South Carolina Monday. The rough Darlington surface is notorious for eating tires and with a race coming up there in May and with the new car many are worried that the same problems that happened at Atlanta may appear again.
While drivers were concerned, Stewart was the most vocal of the group Sunday and he continued to express his opinion Tuesday on his nationally broadcast radio show. Stewart said the problem with tires and having a sole supplier in NASCAR for those tires has been ongoing for years.
“I’ve been a part of the Cup series for 10 years now,” Stewart said. “And problems of blowing tires and getting a bad set of tires, that problem the whole 10 years I’ve been here has never been resolved and never been fixed.”
“I’m not overreacting about Goodyear tires,” Stewart added. “I’m one of the few guys that has run enough of this stuff to actually know what it is like to have driven for Firestone, to have driven for Hoosier tires, you name it. We’ve even drove for Goodyear in some of these series but what we had [Sunday] at this level of competition was not acceptable.”
For his part, Helton defended Goodyear and chided Stewart for being so vocal.
"Tony, we're all well aware of your opinion and you're right to express your opinion - albeit, I think maybe a little bit too strong in this case," Helton said. "I think what we had in Atlanta was a tire that did not fail, and we had a tire that was safe from that aspect, and that it delivered in an environment that is a challenge right now because we're going back to a lot of places in '08 with new chassis, new configurations underneath them by the crew chiefs and the engineers that are throwing challenges at Goodyear."
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How bout we just complain again. Tony tries to find something to complain about something everyweek. he finished 2nd, and he still complains. Maybe he should just quit the sport all together.
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