Goodyear Gets Passing Grade at Indy

NASCAR driver Jeff Burton said he felt a little like the great speed pioneer Chuck Yeager when he showed up at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week for a tire test.

The 2.5-mile track's surface has confounded Goodyear Tire Company engineers and the result has frustrated the Speedway, fans and NASCAR drivers after an embarrassing debacle in last year's Sprint Cup race at Indy, when drivers had to pit about every 12-15 laps for new tires and the ensuing competition caution periods ruined the show.

Subsequent tire tests at Indianapolis to avert a repeat of the situation had shown little improvement. Until now.

"From the first lap on the track, I really liked the way the tire felt,'' said Burton, who drives the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. "We literally never saw one issue with the tires. To my knowledge, there was not a blister, not a cord, there was nothing.''

If the tire holds up as advertised that's good news all around.

Not only has it been worrisome for the drivers who are putting their lives and livelihoods on the line, Indianapolis Motor Speedway has had major trouble selling tickets to the Brickyard 400 race. Some estimates a month ago, had ticket sales down close to 50 percent.

Sales typically pick up in the summer in anticipation of the July 26 race. That trend combined with reports Goodyear has finally figured out the tire situation could be a big boost. Certainly another flawed show at the legendary Brickyard is not the kind of publicity NASCAR wants to endure right now.


"It looks like the tire testing, which began last fall, is proving successful," said Speedway President Joie Chitwood, noting there will be another larger "confirmation" tire test -- involving 12 drivers -- on June 15-16.

Chitwood told FanHouse earlier this year he was very concerned about the tire situation. Initial tests this year and last fall did not show much progress. Drivers were still getting only about 18 laps on the tires - far short of a full fuel run of about 32 laps. This week, however, Burton said his team was able to run the car completely out of fuel on a single run with no tire problems whatsoever.

"This tire appears to rubber the track up itself, it appears to lay rubber down on the track rather than that powder,'' Burton said. " I think that will be a great thing., so I was really impressed with the tire."

Nine drivers representing all four manufacturers turned in more than 1,200 laps in the two days of testing.

"I look at Goodyear and think it has been tough, difficult for them to figure out,'' said Dodge driver Kasey Kahne. "I think that they finally found something that's going to work really well there and it's something that they can use to make our tires better at other tracks as well.

"Last year was terrible to have the Brickyard 400 the way that is was, but I think that we're going to gain something out of it. I think it's going to be a great tire to race on.''