Saturday Notebook from Indy

UPDATE Maybe NASCAR officials should have had the field test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after all, considering the tire issues here this weekend — tire issues that are not unexpected. NASCAR surprised a lot of people by not scheduling an Indy test. And yesterday, on the eve of the sport's second-biggest race, crew chiefs and drivers were worried and upset about the tire issues they're seeing: excessive tire wear.

And apparently it's not getting any better. It's been like this the past several years at this flat, abrasive track. [Editor's Note: Gee, you would have thought the Goodyear engineers would know this by now. They have only been racing there for over 10 years. And you wonder why Goodyear can't compete with any other manufacturer head-to-head on the race track without getting trounced?]

Usually by the end of the three-hour race, things have settled down and tire wear isn't that much of an issue.

But for the first hour or two of today's 400, tires are likely to be a major issue. Again. Winston Salem Journal

07/26/08 The first afternoon practice is over at Indy. Jeff Gordon was fasted in this practice session, followed by Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick.

The teams are very concerned with tire wear. One can tell whether a car is tight or loose by looking at the amount of tire dust under the rear wing on the butt end (aka "sponsor panel") of the cars. Most have never seen the severe tire wear that we're seeing today. Gasoline Alley smells more like the drag strip at O'Reilly Raceway Park on Labor Day weekend, as Essence du Goodyear hangs heavy in the air. NASCAR has limited camber to 8 degrees, so the Indy-style extreme camber of years past is gone, but right now the cars are only getting 5-7 laps for each tire change — last year the cars were getting 15 laps by this time in the day. It is hoped that the better cars will see 20 laps at the end of the last practice before the cords start showing, but after the first practice the drivers remain doubtful. The teams are expressing concern that they'll run out of tires for the race, since most teams ran through 4 sets in the first practice. Unless things change radically, you won't see any 2-tire or no-tire changes tomorrow.

The tire wear patterns are telling too. Some cars have the front wearing out, while others are wearing the front. Strangely, some of the rear tires are worn on the outside (expected) while others are worn out on the inside edge, so obviously those teams are running a lot of rear camber. One team had both rear tires worn evenly, but the tire dust on the back of the car was so thick that it obscured the sponsor logo, so the team got to work changing springs.

Interestingly, no Goodyear reps are to be seen in the press room…..Tim Wohlford reporting from Indy