Firestone introduces new IndyCar rain tire

Firestone unveiled their new IndyCar rain tire today. The tire has been a year in the making with several different compounds tested for wet/friction grip. The thread pattern is the same but the compound is softer. Although driver input was taken into account, the tire has not been tested yet on an Indy Car.

Mid-Ohio will be the first race that the wet compound tire will be available to the teams. Each team was given one set of the new tires to take to Mid-Ohio.

The tire has a silver stripe like the alternate tires so you can distinguish the wet from the dry while the cars are on track.

Lucille Dust reporting from Iowa

(Editor's note: We are concerned the tire was not tested in advance. Keep in mind, this is a softer compound, and a softer compound will wear quicker making the potential for a failure more likely. Hopefully, that will not occur)