Goodyear tire test may still happen at Daytona in December
11/14/10 Goodyear has scrapped its original plans for a Daytona tire test Dec. 7-8 and is considering moving the session to the 13th and 14th instead. Goodyear product manager Rick Heinrich said the track hasn't "progressed to the point that it's ready for the first date we required." Daytona International Speedway president Joie Chitwood has scheduled a meeting with Goodyear officials next week in Miami. Chitwood said when the original test dates were announced by Goodyear, he reiterated "quite clearly that there was no way to forecast" an actual date of completion. According to Chitwood, the pit lane isn't paved completely and the SAFER barrier and fencing must be installed before the cars are cleared to run. "I will meet with my engineers," Chitwood said, "and at that point I will know how early I can get cars on the track. There's still stuff to do. Once we give a date, then we'll have to live up to it." Heinrich doesn't anticipate the later dates will be a problem even though NASCAR has mandated that no test drivers can be used for the tire test. "The feedback that we've gotten from the teams is there's still a lot of interest in the test," Heinrich said. FoxSports