This weekend’s racing action at Charlotte Motor Speedway marks the second of five 1.5-mile tracks that make up half of the 10 tracks in the NASCAR Cup playoffs.
That’s why Goodyear has placed so much emphasis on 1.5-mile tracks, particularly Charlotte, which has held four different tire tests there since late 2014.
Because the 1.5-milers play such a big part of the playoffs, the tests are to develop the best compounds for Chicago, Charlotte, Kansas, Texas and Homestead.
For places like CMS, Goodyear develops tires that incrementally increase grip through various tread compounds. The tires that will be used this weekend are also designed to run cooler to enhance durability and performance.
“Charlotte has really been a proving ground for our speedway tire development throughout the years, not only because it is in the backyard of most NASCAR teams, but also because this type of track represents a big part of the schedule,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing.
“It is well known that NASCAR has been moving to a lower downforce setting over the past several years, but what goes along with that is the fact that the teams continue to develop their race packages to gain most, if not all, of that grip back,” Stucker added. “That means that we have to keep up with the sport and continually test and assess what we see at every race to keep in front of those developments.”
GOODYEAR TIRE NOTES
Fast Facts for October 6-8, 2017 at Charlotte Motor Speedway
- Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials
- Set limits: Cup: 4 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 9 sets for the race; Xfinity: 7 sets for the event
- Tire Codes: Left-side — D-4698; Right-side — D-4732
- Tire Circumference: Left-side — 87.44 in. (2,221 mm); Right-side — 88.70 in. (2,253 mm)
- Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 19 psi; Left Rear — 19 psi; Right Front — 54 psi; Right Rear — 50 psi
Notes from Goodyear: Teams in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series will run the same tire set-up at Charlotte this week. This is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that teams in both of these series ran at Charlotte in May. … While this right-side tire code (D-4732) is unique to Charlotte, teams in these two series will also run this left-side code (D-4698) at Kansas in two weeks. … As on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Charlotte. … Air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
