Goodyear to use softer tires in NASCAR in 2016

Goodyear is expecting to build more softer tires with the adoption of a lower downforce rules package for the 2016 Sprint Cup season. Greg Stucker, the director of race tire sales for the NASCAR supplier, said tires will be tuned to each track with a goal of increasing grip. That likely will mean a softer compound at many 1.5-mile to 2-mile tracks, but tires are expected to remain the same at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway (neither of which will feature the new package) and short tracks such as Martinsville Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway.

"There will be some commonality but probably a lot of change through the rest of '16," Stucker said Friday morning at Kansas Speedway. Even as the tire construction changes, Goodyear probably will continue to use the same combinations at multiple tracks. For example, the 1.5-mile ovals of Chicagoland Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway traditionally have featured the same tire compounds. NASCAR has stressed it plans to tinker with gear ratios on a weekly basis to improve the quality of racing, but Stucker said that won't have an impact on tire production. NBC Sports