From ESPN - NASCAR, Goodyear plan additional tire tests at Brickyard

NASCAR and Goodyear officials on Saturday announced plans to conduct a fall test session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to help solve the tire problems that marred the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard last weekend.

Goodyear officials said multiple teams would participate in the test, but the exact number of teams taking part was unknown and the date has yet to be determined.  A second test will take place next spring.

NASCAR officials were forced to throw a caution flag every 10-to-12 laps during the race at Indy because the tires were wearing down to the cords over that span.

The Indy test in the fall is part of a five-point plan Goodyear and NASCAR have to correct any tire issues in the future.  The plan includes the possibility of a major change to the size of the tires.

The steps include:

• Completing extensive post-race analysis on all internal aspects of tire design.

• Bringing in research scientists and engineers to develop potential short-term solutions to the problem.

• Holding test sessions in fall and spring of 2009, which will include full fuel-stop runs, to fine-tune the race set-up.

• Discussing the possibility of wider tires with NASCAR officials, team owners, drivers, crew chiefs and track representatives.

Full Article Here

Let us hope it doesn’t happen again and we still don’t know why the testing was done in the first place.

Why doesn’t NASCAR race or qualify in the rain on road tracks?  I will tell you why!

They are entertainers, not real racecar drivers.  Driving in the rain would scare most of them to death. 

Which is why, just after the Indy tire problem when NASCAR was asked about racing in the rain at Watkins Glen International in a few weeks, NASCAR and its drivers said they would not run in the rain and would have the fans come back the next day instead of racing like the Nationwide series just did in Montreal.

Don't worry, they won't be racing in the rain.  They have no intention of doing so, bringing the rain tires to the track is just a horse and pony show that NASCAR likes to put on to draw attention.  The first time a Bushwhacker complains they'll red flag it.  As they always do.  Funny cars that are more dangerous and have no roofs with fast cars race in the rain.  That is why any open wheel drivers or any other racing that races in the rain are real racecar drivers.  NASCAR is just entertainment and fantasy racing, where drivers get paid big bucks, to whine and cry, about racing.

Competition caution, no racing in the rain, what entertainment for the fans.

Fellows wins shortened Montreal race in first points event run on rain tires

"It's very dangerous," Fellows said minutes before the race was called.

Grooved tires also were used in 1999 during a Craftsman Truck Series practice on the road course at Watkins Glen.  In 1997, rain tires were used in practice and qualifying for an exhibition race in Japan.

After averaging about 90 mph on the regular slick tires before the rain arrived, the leaders' average speed dropped to about 75 mph on the grooved tires.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/nationwide/news/story?id=3516561

While watching the Brickyard 400, I was embarrassed for the fans at Indy for the race.  If you don’t follow NASCAR you may not know what I am referring to. The rear right center of the tires wore to the cords causing a few blowouts.

An unbelievable nine competition cautions where thrown by the NASCAR Officials, to allow the teams to come in the pits and change the tires.  This has been done in the past at many other tracks and not just this year.

Many people blame the COT (Car of Tomorrow or now called Car of Today) that the tires the Goodyear has used for years would fail and shred to the cords, thus placing lives at stake if one would blowup and the wrong time.  So NASCAR stepped in and allowed the yellows to replace the tires.

NASCAR didn't have an open test at Indy this year with this tire and car type.  The diamond-grinding process at Indy makes the pavement abrasive.  Indy is not new to this type of problem, in 2005, F1 had the same type of problem and the teams decided good or bad not to run.  In F1, multiple tire manufactures supply tires, but in NASCAR, as in the IRL, there is only one.  NASCAR uses Goodyear and IRL uses Firestone. 

I was always hoping NASCAR would open up the tires to multiple manufacturers to have Hoosier and Cooper tire competing with Goodyear to help the racing.  The problem is that a tire war will make the cost of owning a racecar in NASCAR go up. 

To me, Goodyear didn’t do the homework or was not allowed to test the tires.  They need to work on this because the problem was not just at Indy this year, but at other tracks as well.  It may have been the worst at Indy though.

Fewer spectators came to Indy this year and to put on the show as they did this year, next year may even be down more.

I hope for the safety of all, I pray Goodyear and NASCAR get a fix for this.

IMS owner Tony George said in interview to the local newspaper that people should stop blaming the track.  George did not attend the event.  He is vacationing in British Columbia.

"The track won't change next year," George told the Indianapolis Star Monday.  "So if [NASCAR] wants to come back, they better figure it out because I don't think the fans want to come back and see that.

"Figuring it out will only come with getting the car and tire combination right, and that requires actually spending the time and effort to do something about it."