Goodyear tires again a question mark

The big question mark for most drivers heading into this weekend's Kobalt Tools 500 remains the tires. After repeated complaints about tire wear in Atlanta, Goodyear has brought another combination for Sunday's race. "Goodyear's hardest job is to figure out what makes the best race," Burton said. "When you have 40 drivers, you have 40 opinions. For me, I like a tire that makes good grip and keeps a fair amount of grip during the run." Mark Martin, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr. and Sam Hornish spent two January days testing for Goodyear at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and all of them agreed that the new tire should offer better grip – and in turn, much better racing – than in recent memory. "Goodyear brought a tire that will be an improvement over what we had last fall," Martin said Friday. "The cool weather is going to be favorable for the cars' handling, and this multi-groove race track makes for a lot of fun." AMS