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Goodyear bringing new tire to Kentucky

NASCAR XFINITY Series Lilly Diabetes 250 - Practice

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - JULY 22: A view of the Goodyear tires during practice for the NASCAR XFINITY Series Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 23, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images)

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NASCAR teams will have a different right-side Goodyear tire this week at Kentucky Speedway. The change was made after the track added a four-inch layer of asphalt after last year’s race. The track had been repaved and reconfigured before the 2016 race.

The new right-side tire, which will be used by Cup, Xfinity and Truck teams this week, features a compound change to provide more grip and wear. The left-side tire remains the same. The combination was confirmed in a test May 9-10 with Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones and Jamie McMurray.

Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials

Set limits:

Cup: 4 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 8 sets for the race

Xfinity: 8 sets for the event

Truck: 7 sets for the event

Tire Codes:

Left-side -- D-4688; Right-side -- D-4750

Tire Circumference:

Left-side -- 87.56 in. (2,224 mm); Right-side -- 88.58 in. (2,250 mm)

Minimum Recommended Inflation:

Left Front -- 25 psi; Left Rear -- 25 psi

Right Front -- 54 psi; Right Rear -- 50 psi

Notes: Teams in all three NASCAR national series in action at Kentucky this week will run the same tire set-up. ... Teams will run the same left-side tire code (D-4688) as last year at Kentucky, but with a new right-side code (D-4750). ... Compared to what was run last season, this right-side tire features a compound change to give more grip and introduce more wear. ... This tire set-up came out of a Goodyear test at Kentucky on May 9-10. ... Drivers participating in that test were Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones and Jamie McMurray. ... As on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run liners in all four tire positions at Kentucky. ... Air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire. ... The goal of that May test was both to tune the grip to the fresh surface as the Cup and Xfinity Series go to lower downforce packages and induce more wear on a new surface that won’t easily wear tires and take on rubber. The reason why the latter is important is two-fold: (1) when tires wear it often puts a premium on tire management and maintaining the car’s balance over the course of a full fuel run, and (2) when a track takes rubber, it creates multiple racing grooves and creates conditions for better racing.

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