Ryan Preece ducked onto pit road, Sunday, during the second caution of the NASCAR Cup Series Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway for option tires. In just 11 laps after the Lap 15 restart, he drove his way from 33rd to 10th and finished the first stage in third.
I saw enough, NASCAR. Run option tires everywhere!
The option tires added a much needed layer of strategy to a track that, for the last few years, produced some of the dullest, most unwatchable racing this side of Texas Motor Speedway. It allowed cars to cut their way through the field like a knife through butter and forced drivers to let off the gas to preserve the good in their tires at the end of a run.
Case in point: Joey Logano.
On Lap 130, Logano, on option tires, took the lead. He let off the gas to save the good in his tires. Towards the end of the second stage, Christopher Bell, on prime tires, ate into his lead, lost some time dealing with lap traffic and reeled in Logano again. Eventually, Logano lost the lead to Bell, he finished the second stage runner-up.
This added layer of strategy exists in the NTT IndyCar Series and Formula 1. Sure, it doesn’t always amount to much, but as we saw in St. Petersburg, when you used Firestone Reds made the difference between advancing or not in qualifying.
The big whigs in the big Daytona office should look at what the option tires produced and decide this is what every NASCAR race should have (maybe minus the restrictor plate races). Furthermore, with how dull the racing normally is at Phoenix, running option tires during the championship race could sway the fanbase towards wanting the championship race to remain at Phoenix.
If not again, this season, then NASCAR should announce that every race in 2026 will use option tires.
That’s my view, for what it’s worth.
