Please, no help wanted.

[B.G. Smith]

A tire company that makes all tires for Sprint Cup racing has an ad on TV that states something like "What we learn here we are putting into your tires." I think I would like to pass on that one, in the race at Richmond last week several cars had fires in the right front tire from the rubber coming off and wrapping around the inside of wheel area. This was after a long run of about 75 miles. At least one car was burned so bad it could not continue to race. bg

 

[Bill Lins]

While I understand the humor involved, I suspect that the two cars that had RF tire trouble were running way too much camber.

 

[B.G. Smith]

You would have to think the tire maker was aware that they would be running a lot of camber in the right front wheel, the tires were made especially for that race and were specific for wheel location. I know there is lots of load on the tires at the speeds they run but failure under a hundred miles don't sell me on buying that brand. bg

 

[JR]

I would really hate to be in GoodYears shoes having to make the decisions on which compound to bring to the track every week. Track surface and wide temperature swings largely effect their decisions, so if the weather forecast was off by several degrees (gasp) or it rained prior to the race and washed all the rubber off the track what was once the right decision now has to be reassessed. They bring different compounds to the track and generally make a decision on site but there's too many variables to be perfect every time. Not to mention everybody runs a different set up, and the right front tire takes the most abuse on a short track so an ill handling car will scrub the tire much quicker then a car that has a good balance. No tire regardless of brand is going to last at those speeds and loads if they are running on the inside third of the tire.

 

[jhenderson]

A lot of teams will lean on the right front or right rear crutch a poor handling race car.

 

[jgillott]

Anyone remeber the NASCAR tire wars?

 

[jhenderson]

Hoosier or Firestone?

 

[jgillott]

I was thinking of Hoosier from the late 80's to the early 90's

 

[Bill Lins]

Back in the '60s it was Goodyear v. Firestone.

Remembering that Goodyear makes recommendations to the teams regarding pressures & camber, among other things, but cannot enforce their recommendations, the fact that only 2 teams had serious issues tells me something. jhenderson is right- no tire can withstand a bad setup.

 

[B.G. Smith]

The point I was trying to make is the tires used in Sprint Cup racing have very little in common with automobile tires used on the street other than they are both round with a hole in the center, they do have something in common with the trailer tires from this company, they will destroy a quarter panel on the race car when they let go very much like the trailer tires will wipe out the skirting and wheel well on a trailer when they let go. bg

 

[Bill Lins]

True. Personally, I'm not a Goodyear fan. They're what my 98 came with. That OEM set went hard at about 30K and the RR began to sling its tread at about 55K. I've run Michelins ever since & have gotten much better service out of them, not to mention that they're about one buck per tire cheaper than the Goodyears!

 

[jhenderson]

B G I'm with you. It seems their street tire quality has taken a hit.