Goodyear won’t be able to do tire test after Texas repave

Goodyear stated that it will not be able to conduct a tire test at Texas Motors Speedway following completion of the repave and reconfiguration project the track announced Friday morning. In addition to the repave, the track is reducing the banking in Turns 1 and 2 from 24 degrees to 20 degrees. The racing surface's width will expand from 60 to 80 feet in those turns. The banking and racing surface in Turns 3 and 4 will not change. The project – which begins Monday – is scheduled for completion in early March, but Goodyear said in a statement that the narrow window before NASCAR's April 7-9 race dates at Texas prevents the tire manufacturer from holding a test.

"We have been kept completely in the loop as the folks at SMI and Texas Motor Speedway considered this move and now, with the announcement that they will both repave and reconfigure their track starting next week, there is no question Goodyear will have to bring a new tire set-up for the NASCAR weekend scheduled there in April," said Greg Stucker, Goodyear's Director of Racing, in the statement.

"Because of the tight schedule, we will not have time to do a tire test at Texas, so we will look at the details of the new configuration and understand the asphalt mix that will be used, which is planned to be similar to what was used most recently at Kentucky. That being said, this project will take on a similar feel to the one at Kentucky because that was also both a repave and reconfiguration. Having that recent history, along with our experience with a wide range of track configurations and surfaces – including many that have been repaved over the recent years – we will determine the appropriate tire set-up in advance of the event, giving teams plenty of time to prepare."

Currently, Goodyear has seven tire tests planned for the year, six of them involving Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams. One test occurs the week of the Texas race, at Michigan International Speedway. Here are Goodyear's planned test dates:
– Las Vegas Motor Speedway: Jan. 10-11
– Michigan International Speedway: April 4-5
– Indianapolis Motor Speedway: April 25-26
– Kentucky Speedway: May 9-10
– Eldora Speedway (Trucks): May 15-16
– Chicagoland Speedway: June 6-7
– Atlanta Motor Speedway: August 8-9 NBC Sports