New tire working good at Bristol

Reaction to the new right-side tires Goodyear introduced to Sprint Cup teams Saturday was mixed, but everyone agreed the biggest concern that forced the change has been fixed. "It lasts," said Mark Martin, who was fastest in the final practice. "There's not as much grip, and handling is not as good, but it will last. That's what we had to have." Goodyear made the decision to change early Friday because the new, softer compound brought to the half-mile track was severely chording, to the point the tires were wearing out in 25 to 30 laps — far less than the 135 laps needed for a full fuel run. The right-side combination also was not rubbering up the track properly. "The track obviously is taking on more rubber," Goodyear's Rick Heinrich said after practice. "The tire wear projects to a full fuel run." Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president for competition, was happy with the new tires that produced speeds of about half a second slower. "It's fine," he said. "It's a little bit different, but the important thing is we're in a position now to react faster than ever before." Heinrich said each team will have one set of tires made in February 2010 and eight sets made in September 2010. Most teams didn't practice with the new tires until late in Saturday's second practice. ESPN