LONG POND, Pa. — Drivers routinely refer to tires as “hard” and “soft,” — hard tires supposedly being the norm for a newly repaved race track such as Pocono.
In reality, that’s an oversimplification, because when Goodyear chooses a tire for a resurfaced racetrack, the primary concern is heat tolerance, not a “hardness” factor. Simply, on a smooth, repaved track, tires retain heat because they don’t wear, and because speeds don’t fall off significantly.
Rick Campbell, Goodyear’s project director of tire development for NASCAR racing, explained the distinction.
“There’s very little wear, and one of our most efficient ways of dissipating heat is through wear,” Campbell told the NASCAR Wire Service. “Repaves are not abrasive, so we don’t get much wear. So we have to have to make sure we have enough heat resistance built into the tire to be able to tolerate a very low wear rate.
“Obviously, grip is a consideration, but heat resistance and the ability to run under those conditions is first and foremost.”
Accordingly, Goodyear made both construction and compound changes to the tires selected for Pocono after an April test on the new surface. The right-side tires Cup drivers are running this weekend are the same used successfully on new pavement at Phoenix International Raceway in February.
“The other thing that repaves present that’s different from most tracks is that there’s very little fall-off in grip over a fuel run,” Campbell said. “So lap times and the doom cycle a tire has to deal with are constant. There’s no relief over a fuel run. They’re not slowing down.”
What that means for Sunday’s race is that drivers are likely to pit just inside their fuel windows for the final run — or gamble and pit just outside the window — and remain on the track for the balance of the race.
With so little fall-off in the tires, sacrificing track position for new rubber typically won’t be a smart move.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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