Goodyear hears another round of complaints
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As with most things NASCAR, there’s always divergent opinions on what needs to be done to provide the best competition. No matter what sort of tire it builds, Goodyear will likely be criticized by someone.
“There’s 43 drivers here. There’s 43 crew chiefs. There’s 30 car owners,” Fantozzi pointed out. “So there’s about 120 opinions on what needs to be done.”
But the backlash against the tire chosen for Atlanta track was stunning in its ferocity, a near-unanimous chorus against Goodyear for choosing a compound that wouldn’t wear out as quickly but sucked all the life out of the action on the track.
“I felt like I was going to crash every single lap,” said Gordon, who started on the pole and finished fifth. “I’m exhausted right now. I feel like I’ve run a thousand miles here. There is just no reason for this. This car, this tire, at this race track, was just terrible.”
The “Car of Tomorrow,” which is in its first full season of Cup racing, isn’t making Goodyear’s job any easier. The car is designed to improve safety, but it’s bigger, bulkier frame makes it tougher to drive and provides a whole new challenge for tire engineers.
During Sunday’s race, drivers rarely got in more than a couple of laps at top speeds before their tires began to lose grip. That turned the event into nothing more than follow-the-leader, with everyone fighting for control of their own car rather than worrying about competing with those around them.
“I don’t think the race was all that exciting,” said third-place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr., set to join Gordon for a tire test Monday at Darlington.
“We couldn’t run side-by-side. We’d wreck. We had to let each other go by. Every time you got beside a guy, you were just like, ’Take it.’ I couldn’t go in the corner side by side. No one else out there really could, either.”
NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter defended Goodyear, pointing out there were no major crashes. All but two of the 43 cars were running at the end, and Elliott Sadler was the only driver knocked out of the race in a crash. He lost control and spun into the wall on lap 262.
Sadler wasn’t hurt, and no one else was involved.
“This was only the second race on a mile-and-a-half track with the new car,” Hunter said. “Goodyear always puts safety first, and there were no tire failures. There’s no doubt this car is harder to drive and as a result, there’s a bigger premium on the driver’s ability. We certainly can understand drivers being frustrated after 500 grueling miles. However, Goodyear will work with us and the teams to make things better. They always have.”
Atlanta Motor Speedway president Ed Clark weighed into the fray, saying he already spoke with a top Goodyear official, Stu Grant, to let him know the track is available for as much testing as needed before the Oct. 26 race.
“We will do everything possible from our end to help make sure that we have the best tire compound available when the Sprint Cup teams return this fall,” Clark said.
Stewart isn’t optimistic.
“If that’s what we’ve got to look forward to, weekends like this, there will be a lot of drivers going into retirement a lot earlier, because nobody’s going to want to keep doing it like this,” the outspoken star said.
“That was the most pathetic racing tire I’ve ever been on in my professional career. Goodyear can’t build a tire that is worth a crap.”
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