Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Goodyear brings new tire to Texas

0Ddty18xOIqy
Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, Daniel Suarez, Austin Dillon and Joey Logano need to step up for their respective teams and make a push for victory lane in Texas.

Goodyear will bring a new left-side tire for this weekend’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 to address challenges from the recent repave and reconfiguration of Texas Motor Speedway,

The track was updated prior to the 2017 season.

Repaves typically increase adhesion, create more friction and increase the heat in the tire, while the smooth surface does not allow the rubber to shred. Goodyear will keep the same right-side tire as last year but developed the new left to allow for more rubber to be worked into the track and produce more side-by-side racing during a fuel run.

The current tire combination was a result of a test at Texas Jan. 9-10. Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola participated.

“We had a good test at Texas and we were able to address some of the challenges that all repaves present,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing, in a statement. “This being just the third NASCAR Cup race since the repave, the track surface has not really had the chance to weather in, so to speak. This new left-side tire matches up well with this still smooth surface and will accomplish our goal of increased wear and laying rubber on the track. That should lead to an increased level of fall-off over the course of a fuel run and a widened racing groove.”

The new left-side tire compound will be used in both the Cup and Xfinity series.

This left-side tire construction is similar to the one used at Auto Club Speedway earlier this year.

Tire Specifications

Tire Codes: Left-side, D-4770; Right-side, D-4718

Tire Circumference: Left-side, 87.68 in.; Right-side, 88.62 in.

Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front, 22 psi; Left Rear, 22 psi; Right Front, 52 psi; Right Rear, 50 psi.

Set limits: Cup: 4 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 9 sets for race; Xfinity: 7 sets for the event