Goodyear not expecting tire shortage in 2007

By Kenny Bruce

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

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While there has been little progress made between tire manufacturer Goodyear and United Steelworkers union members, rumors that NASCAR is looking to Hoosier for tires in 2007 aren't true, officials with both Goodyear and NASCAR said.

Approximately 15,000 USW members went on strike at 16 Goodyear plants in the U.S. and Canada, sparking rumors that Goodyear would not be able to provide race tires for NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series next season. Talk that Hoosier officials were having meetings with NASCAR officials at the Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., as well as NASCAR's Daytona Beach headquarters did little to quell the rumors.

"We talk to someone from Hoosier probably every week," Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications, said Nov. 17. "Hoosier supplies tires for a number of NASCAR's regional series. They supply tires for Grand Am, for ARCA as well."

But, he said, such talks have not dealt with Hoosier providing tires for either Cup, Busch or Craftsman truck series teams.

"[Goodyear is] still capable of producing tires for Cup, and we've been assured by [Goodyear officials] that they will have enough tires for next year," Hunter said. "They're able to continue to produce race tires at this point, and they say they will be able to, regardless of the [strike] circumstances."

Goodyear typically supplies between 2,500 and 3,000 tires for Cup teams during a normal race weekend.