NASCAR does not anticipate tire problems Sunday
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Saturday, February 16, 2008
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – At least two teams that had issues with tires blistering Thursday are still scratching their heads a little bit on whether the tires will be good for Sunday, but NASCAR doesn’t anticipate major problems in the Daytona 500.
“Thursday showed us a huge improvement [over earlier practices] and every practice since then, it keeps getting better,” NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby said Saturday after the final Cup practice. “To make a statement that all the blistering is totally gone, that would be false. … It’s rescinded enough that I think we’re more than fine for the 500 on Sunday.”
Darby said he didn’t see a need for a competition caution to check tire wear. A green-flag fuel run lasts about 41-44 laps at Daytona.
Tire issues have cropped up for several teams during the wee, and at least four teams had problems in the qualifying races Thursday.
“We made a good gain yesterday and made an even better gain today,” said Red Bull Racing’s Brian Vickers. “We won’t know until Sunday where we will stack up compared to everyone else.
“In the [qualifying races], we were looking at 20, maybe 25 laps and it was going to come apart. Yesterday, what we saw, maybe 30. Today, a little more than 30. In the 40s, I think it would be pushing it for us but maybe with the Nationwide rubber down [from its race today] and the truck rubber, maybe it will be better for us.”
Elliott Sadler had an early tire problem in the race Thursday, which Gillett Evernham Motorsports team director Rodney Childers said was possibly a tire that ended up peeling. Sadler then ran about another 35 laps before having trouble. In practice Saturday, his team was still looking at 25-lap tires with blisters on them.
“I still don’t know what to think,” said Childers, whose team missed some practice time to deal with some engine issues. “Hopefully we can make it a little ways tomorrow. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
The temperatures Sunday should be about 10-15 degrees warmer than Thursday, which should result in slower speeds and less blistering.
“Hotter temperatures means the driver has got to lift earlier,” Darby said. “It may relate into speed, but what it really means is they’re not charging the corner as hard, they’re not abusing everything as much. When the track starts to lose grip, you can’t.”
