10 cars to test tires at DIS

In a normal Goodyear tire test at Daytona International Speedway, there may be three or four participating stock-car teams collecting data for the NASCAR supplier. As a prep for the July 4 Coke Zero 400, Goodyear has 10 Sprint Cup Series stock cars and a dozen drivers turning laps over the 2.5-mile tri-oval. The two-day test concludes today.

"Just having three or four cars out there drafting, you don't get the (desired) effect, you don't get the sensation of the speed, what the cars go through in the draft, so we needed a few more cars here, then just two or three cars," driver Clint Bowyer said.

"The tires don't get the abuse they get when you're under the loads of drafting with 40 cars out there. They got the right amount of cars out here."

Goodyear, which came under heavy fire last season for tire issues at Atlanta and Indianapolis, has pulled out all the stops for this Daytona test with a record number of participants.

"Goodyear has a tough job," said Bowyer, who drives the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. "They never get to say they did something right. You hear about Goodyear when they do something wrong.

"They work hard at it. They try to do the best they can. They bring us drivers here to do tire tests to make sure we have the tire we want to go racing. What more can you ask for from them?"

Goodyear has different teams, representing all four manufacturers in Sprint Cup, doing different tasks in an attempt to generate tire wear or heat in the tire. The company is testing several different compounds and constructions.

"They put certain people on different agendas, but at the end of the day they get all back together and we go out there and draft and get everybody together," Bowyer said. "When you're drafting, everybody is on the same tire in the same conditions." Daytona Beach News Journal