Goodyear developing bigger tire
NASCAR already has delayed the introduction of the car from sometime this year to at least 2010 or beyond. Now that Goodyear has said it hopes to have a bigger tire ready to race sometime in 2010, that could throw another curve into the introduction of NASCAR’s new Nationwide car since a change in the size of the tire would require teams to change the chassis. Goodyear says the new tire might be an inch or two taller and wider in order to handle the high right-side loads of the new car, but Balash says the series may move ahead with the new model anyway.
“2010 is too aggressive for anybody to talk about that tire – it will be a much longer process, so I don’t think the introduction of that car and the tire [will match]," Balash said. “We’re well aware of all the processes and the dimensions and those things. We’ve seen a prototype."
So will the Nationwide Series have a new car in 2010? That introduction remains to be seen.
“We’re going to do our due diligence like we did last year," Balash said. “We’re going to take the next few weeks and spend a lot of time with the owners and get a good feel on how they feel for the car, and then we’ll go back to senior management and make a recommendation on our comfort level with 2010 and the launch. Scenedaily.com
02/05/09 Goodyear is developing a wider, taller tire that could improve racing in the Sprint Cup series, but the tire won't be ready for competition until sometime next year at the earliest, a company official said. Goodyear officials hope to test the tire at a track in the second half of the season, said Greg Stucker, Goodyear's director of race tire sales.
The tire could make its debut at the short- track events in 2010 if things go well. That would follow how NASCAR phased in the Car of Tomorrow. The main advantage of a taller, wider tire is it could give drivers more grip. That would help the car's handling and could give teams improved tire wear. "We're operating right on the edge of the envelope for our current package," Stucker said.
"The new car definitely seems to stress tires differently with the additional right-side weight, it's harder on those right sides. We would like to go taller and wider to… make the tire a little bit more forgiving and a little less sensitive to maybe guys missing the setup or maybe being more aggressive on their setups."
Goodyear's current Cup tire is 28.5 inches tall and 11-12 inches wide, depending on the track configuration. Stucker said that Goodyear officials are looking at making the tire 1.5 to 2 inches taller and the same amount wider. That creates issues, though. A taller, wider tire will force teams to alter their cars and that could cause headaches.
"When you raise the car up, obviously, you change your suspension pickup points and so on and so forth," Stucker said. "We're trying to be very careful in approaching this. If there are going to be changes necessary, make sure they're the right changes and let's think through it. We're proceeding fairly cautiously." Another issue is that Stucker said that Goodyear would have to alter its equipment to produce a different-sized tire. That will take time.
"We've got to make some fairly significant changes, which we are in the process of planning and getting ready to do," Stucker said. "That's going to take some time to upgrade all of that equipment." Virginian Pilot