Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle say tires no longer an issue at Indy
Goodyear's new tire for Indianapolis Motor Speedway held up well during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice Friday for the Allstate 400. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
INDIANAPOLIS – It didn’t take Jeff Gordon, a four-time winner of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, long to sum up his feelings concerning Goodyear’s new tire.
“I think tires are a non-issue,” Gordon, the four-time NASCAR Cup champion, said today following two practice sessions at the 2.5-mile track. “I think we actually need to move on to a whole new subject. Because it’s done. They [Goodyear] have created a great tire.
“If anybody has an issue with tires [this weekend], it’s not because they’re wearing out.”
Last year’s Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s 400-mile event, was beset by tire problems. Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson, survived to win a race that saw officials throw six competition cautions during the final 134 laps to allow teams to pit and check tire wear.
Instead of “rubbering in” the track as the tires wore out, a combination of grinding, done to smooth the track's surface, and the new
tire resulted in a high number of tire failures.
Since then, officials with the tire supplier tested extensively here with Cup teams, returning to the track seven times, in an effort to
avoid similar problems.
Greg Stucker, director of racing tire sales for Goodyear, said the track surface “took rubber very, very quickly this afternoon and continued to do so.
“[It’s] got a nice dark groove out there,” Stucker said. “Tire wear has been excellent – we have guys that have 27 laps on tires and still look good so we’re projecting well in excess of a fuel stop right off the bat.”
Gordon said he ran 20 laps on one set of tires, “and there was so much left in them. … We could have run all day on one set if we had wanted to; the tire wear is that good and it’s only going to get better.”
In effect, the improved tire wear will likely affect race strategy, Gordon said, noting that, “definitely, guys could take some risks on track
position being more key [on Sunday] than fresher tires.”
Roush Fenway Racing driver Greg Biffle, fastest in the day’s first practice session, called last year’s problems “an isolated incident.
“A big deal was made about it and it’s gone now,” Biffle said. “We’ve got a good tire. The track has grip and I think it’s going to race
good.”
