Jeff Gordon Guarantees Goodyear Got It Right at Indy

OK, Brickyard fans, Jeff Gordon "guarantees" you a good race when NASCAR returns to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the AllState 400 on July 26.

The four-time race winner Gordon promises the tire issues that ruined last year's Sprint Cup Series race -- and a lot of fan goodwill - will not be a problem this summer.

"I'm 100 percent confident, it's a dead issue," Gordon said Tuesday during a break in Goodyear's final tire test at Indy before the race. "The race might come down to a lot of different factors ... but it's not going to come down to a 10-lap shootout to see whose tires will last. I can promise all the fans out there, if they want to come to the Brickyard, they'll see a great race and be confident the tires are not going to be an issue.

"Trust me. And I hope that's going to go be enough for the fans."

And just in case Gordon vouching for the new tire isn't good enough, plenty of other drivers, as well as Goodyear executives, report they are confident with the final product -- a result of seven tire tests and more than 13,000 laps at the track, not to mention countless engineering hours put in at Goodyear's Akron, Ohio headquarters.

Last year, NASCAR had to throw a competition caution flag about every 10-12 laps during the Allstate 400 at Indy. Cars couldn't even run half a tank of fuel before needing to pit for new tires. The situation infuriated drivers, fans and track officials alike.

Ticket sales are the slowest in the 15 years since NASCAR started racing at Indy, and with already-sagging television ratings, NASCAR could stand a dose of redemption and good racing at the world's most famous speedway.

Goodyear has certainly done its part with relentless energy toward the cause. NASCAR's sole tire supplier even went so far as to duplicate IMS' surface on portions of its Akron test track. Even so, teams were still skeptical, and drivers critical of the product up until a test two weeks ago.

"It's been a deliberate process,'' Goodyear's Director of Race Tire Sales Greg Stucker said Tuesday from Indianapolis. "That first test after the (Indy) 500 two weeks ago, we knew that would be the true measurement.

"We left here knowing we were able to put a lot of rubber down and make full fuel runs. That last test was the one we walked away from and said, 'We've got it.' This week was just a confirmation of that.''


Gordon not only expressed supreme confidence in the final product Tuesday, but was outspoken in his praise of how Goodyear handled being the fall guy in the whole ordeal last year.

"None of us wanted to see what happened last year," Gordon said. "I really hate that Goodyear took so much of the blame, because this track is extremely abrasive, these new cars wear tires more. A lot of things contributed to what happened.

"Unfortunately, Goodyear took the brunt of it. And because none of the other things (cars or track surface) are changing, they had to really work to come up with this tire."

To its credit, Goodyear hasn't shirked its responsibility -- despite a backlash of criticism from fans and NASCAR. Stucker even indicated the company may still consider some sort of compensation for fans this year, similar to Michelin, which bought tickets for some fans after a similar tire debacle in the Formula One race at Indy in 2005.

"No one walked out of here that wasn't disappointed," Stucker said. "And there hasn't been a day go by since that we haven't talked about the race. It's been our number-one priority for the last 11 months.

"And I think we got it right."