NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: Where the rubber met the road and then fell off the wheel
Okay, everyone from Goodyear engineers, NASCAR officials, crew chiefs, car chiefs, drivers, the media and the fans have had some time to digest the issue of tire wear that was presented during last Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the Auto Club Speedway.
The situation was not good. In the aftermath of the race it was reported that the rash of flat tires impacted nearly 50 per cent of the starting field and was a factor in five of the seven caution flags in the race.
I’m not going to even pretend to be an expert on tire wear or handling packages for a stock car. However I, like many of you, have now had time to carefully listen to and digest some of the theories from those who are experts in these matters. I, like many of you, have questions and opinions.
SHOULD GOODYEAR BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE TIRE WEAR DURING THIS RACE?
Actually no, they shouldn’t. It’s been Goodyear’s long time policy of issuing pre race tire reports to all of the teams. That report clearly indicated that the recommended tire pressure for the Goodyear Eagles used for this race should be 22 PSI, (pounds per square inch), in the left front, 20 PSI in the left rear, 45 PSI in the right front and 42 PSI in the right rear tire.
Prior to, and during, the Auto Club 400 there were multiple reports that said many of the teams were running very low tire pressures on the left side to improve tire grip and speed. Those reports said that some of these left front and rear tire pressures were as low 11 to 14 PSI. That’s a big gamble taken by crew and car chiefs prior to the race. The fact that the extraordinary amount of negative tire wear during the practice sessions alone should have been taken as an indication that running such low tire pressure might turn out to be a huge mistake. Goodyear engineers made it a point to go on record and warn the teams about the potential impacts of the low pressure.
The final finish order for the Auto Club 400 clearly indicated that those teams who heeded the warning wound up reaping the benefits. The most obvious example was race winner Kyle Busch. Dave Rogers, the crew chief for Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, made it clear he was not comfortable with running low tire pressures and chose a more conservative approach for his tires. We all saw how well that turned out.
Yet another example was Kurt Busch and his Stewart-Haas Racing team. The team reportedly experimented with tire pressures during Friday’s practice session and the resulting flat tire made crew chief Daniel Knost adopt a more conservative approach. The result was Kurt Busch became a major player during the final laps of the race and finished third.
By the way, the theory that said Goodyear was not directly responsible for all of those flat tires was supported by Robin Pemberton, NASCAR Vice President of Competition, who later said he felt the aggressive set ups used by the teams were the root of the problems.
WAS THERE ANYTHING GOODYEAR COULD HAVE DONE PRIOR TO THE RACE TO ADDRESS THE POTENTIAL TIRE PROBLEM.
Actually, yes there was. A Goodyear tire, mandated by NASCAR, on the Thursday prior to the race weekend would have likely revealed the potential problem and made the teams realize that the conservative approach to tire pressures was definitely in order.
Goodyear brought the same tires to the Auto Club event that was used in past races. Their right side tires, code D-4408, have been used at the track since the 2011 race while the left side tires, code D-4522, was introduced to the track last year.
The gray area here lies in the fact that these tires were bolted onto a brand new race car that wasn’t available during the last two Auto Club events. NASCAR’s new stock car came with advanced aerodynamic packages, including a higher rear spoiler, which created an increase in down force and speed. The new rules package for these new cars also provided the teams with new levels of leeway in the areas of tire camber which could have easily impacted tire wear.
A day long tire test would have addressed any and all issues associated with the new car that was scheduled to race on a massive two mile oval where the cars often hits speeds in excess of 200 MPH on the straightaways.
WERE THERE DRIVERS ANGRY AT GOODYEAR?
Yes. Many of the teams that were impacted by the rash of flat tires in this race were considered to be prominent pre race favorites. Chief among them was Jimmie Johnson. With seven laps remaining in the race, Johnson had a two second plus lead on the field and was clearly on his way to the win. That was all ruined by a sudden, left front, flat tire. You had to admire Johnson’s calm demeanor after the race. He simply said that their demise came from “an issue not of our making.” He never once pointed the finger of blame at Goodyear, but you could literally see the flames of hell dancing in the man’s eyes.
Tire wear also impacted Jeff Gordon who inherited the lead from his team mate Johnson. Gordon was dealing with his own potential tire issue and was running a safe and conservative pace while trying to nurse the car to victory lane. That unraveled with two laps remaining when Clint Bowyer’s flat tire, and subsequent spin out, brought out a caution flag and a need for the teams to enter pit road for fresh tires prior to the green white checker finish. The drama of that final restart saw Gordon get shuffled to 13th. An angry Gordon later said that “Goodyear was not fully prepared” for this race and added “the situation was just uncalled for.”
WERE THERE OTHER SOURCES CONNECTED TO THESE FLAT TIRES?
According to Dale Earnhardt Jr there was and the culprit was the track surface. Earnhardt’s tire woes came early, on lap 41, when a flat left side tire sent him into the wall. He spent a miserable afternoon salvaging a 12th place finish.
Earnhardt blamed the massive bumps on the track’s surface, especially on the back stretch, as being the culprit behind the tire wear. He pointed out that the track’s rough surface was damaging the tires where the sidewall and tread are put together. He suggested that it was time to repave the speedway or, at the very least, repave the backstretch. Having said that, Earnhardt also made it clear that he didn’t think Goodyear wasn’t responsible for the problems and he actually felt bad for the tire company.
WILL THERE BE A PROPOSED SOLUTION TO ALLEVIATE THIS SITUATION.
Absolutely. Both NASCAR and Goodyear have an outstanding reputation for making quick work of addressing all issues regarding safety. If their research determines that a specific situation requires attention then they will make quick work of resolving that issue.
One precautionary program is the aforementioned additional tire testing. The NASCAR schedule indicates that, in the next several weeks, there will be races at the 1.5 mile venues at Texas, Kansas and Charlotte plus the spring race at the massive Talladega Super Speedway. A tire test at either Texas or Kansas would be helpful. Testing at Talladega, with its high speed levels and tight racing, and Charlotte, with its annual 600 mile event, could turn out to be crucial.
NOTES FROM THE NASCAR NATION: Good things often come to those who wait
When it comes to watching NASCAR racing at the Auto Club Speedway, sometimes you have to be patient and wait until the waning laps of the event in order to witness the drama unfold. The middle portion of these events can be somewhat tedious sometimes. However, in recent years, the two mile oval, located in Fontana-California, has developed a rock steady reputation for presenting finishes that makes the fans jump to their feet as well as making fans, watching at home, jump off of their couches while yelling at their televisions.
In other words, to coin an old phrase, good things often come to those who wait. That’s exactly what happened during the 2014 edition of the NASCAR weekend at the Auto Club Speedway.
The late race drama started during the waning laps of Saturday’s Treat My Clot (Dot) Com 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series event. Some thought Sprint Cup veteran Kevin Harvick was going to win this race. Some thought Sprint Cup veteran Kyle Busch was going to add another victory to his massive Nationwide Series stats when he took the race lead with five laps remaining.
To everyone’s amazement it was Kyle Larson, a 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series sophomore and Sprint Cup rookie, who stole the show by taking the lead from Busch one lap later. The 21 year old California native did an outstanding job of keeping Busch and Harvick at bay to score his first series’ win. He also thrilled us by performing a post race burn out through the speedway’s front stretch grass while holding his steering wheel outside of the car’s window.
The surprising turn was quickly labeled the Kyle and Kyle show. At the time no realized that the Kyle and Kyle show was going to produce an amazing sequel approximately 24 hours later.
Fast forward to Sunday’s Auto Club 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. During the late stages of this stellar event, we were practically willing to bet the farm on Jimmie Johnson scoring his latest California win while adding to the massive stats he’s accumulated at this track. To our amazement, that was upstaged by a flat tire with seven laps remaining in the race.
Next it appeared that Jeff Gordon, in another very strong Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, was going to score his latest win in California. That was upstaged by a caution flag that was presented with two laps left in the race. That untimely event led to a green-white-checker finish.
That’s when it appeared that team mates Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart were going to battle for the win while Stewart-Haas Racing fans were whipped to a frenzy.
It was also when the Kyle and Kyle show launched its sequel presentation. Halfway through the white flag lap, Busch and Larson made a stunning move to claim the one-two finish while a packed grandstand of 68,000 hit an even higher level of racing excitement.
In recent years, finishes like this have virtually become the calling card for racing at the Auto Club. In the days prior to last weekend, it was widely regarded by the NASCAR media that last year’s Sprint Cup race was the best event of the 2013 season. After seeing last Saturday and Sunday’s finishes, it appears that the Auto Club Speedway topped that performance.
Purchase tickets early for next year’s race is probably a good idea.
Stewart-Haas Racing Gets Back On Track At Fontana
Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) reassured their dominance in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Sunday at Fontana after team owner, Tony Stewart finished fifth and first-year SHR driver Kurt Busch placed third. While the team didn’t cross the finish line first, the top five runs for Busch and Stewart may be all the momentum the entire team needs heading to Martinsville Speedway and beyond.
Busch and Stewart gained track position late in the going at Fontana, to try and win the race – as with the new system a win almost guarantees you a ticket into the Chase. However, on the ensuing green white-checkered shootout their two tire strategy couldn’t hold off the four tires of Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson, they were eventually passed and barley hung onto their top five positions.
“It was sketchy not knowing what was going to happen with two versus four (tires) but I was glad Chad (Johnston) made the right cal again two weeks in a row.” Stewart explained after climbing from his No. 14 Chevrolet SS.
Despite not scoring the win, as they anticipated by gambling, the entire organization has some positive to look back on heading forward.
“I was glad that we had two SHR (Stewart-Haas Racing) cars there in contention at the end.” Stewart furthered commented. “We hadn’t been a top-five car all day so really proud of these guys.”
The top five is the second straight for Stewart, while this is the first one on the season for the ‘Outlaw’ Busch – and a much needed one.
“It was an awesome finish racing your boss Tony Stewart for a win.” Busch told reporters after climbing from his No. 41 Chevrolet SS. “A little like happy, but sad, one of us should have brought it (the win) home for Stewart-Hass Racing and it just didn’t pan out with the four tires versus two.
While most attention followed Stewart and Busch’s runs, Danica Patrick had a quiet, but impressive, 14th place finish, her season-best placing. And while it’s not an astonishing run, it’s still a confidence booster heading to a track she did fairly well at last season.
“It seems like some of our most trying weekends end up with our better results.” Patrick expressed following her career-best result at Fontana. “We will take it and we will know that there is so much more potential for those weekends where we feel like we are running a lot better.”
While most of the SHR camp had success at the tricky California track, Kevin Harvick had his struggles. He finished 36th after having what seemed like a multitude of tire issues – which was common for many drivers throughout the event. However, the two dismal finishes at Bristol and Fontana don’t affect Harvick greatly, as he’s already (pretty much) locked himself into the Chase after winning in Phoenix.
“It’s kind of the same story as the last few weeks.” Harvick explained following the disappointing finish. “We’ll have a really strong run going, and something happens and we don’t get the finish that we deserve. It’s really frustrating.”
The SHR team prepares now for the catastrophic Martinsville Speedway where they are hoping to build off the impressive run at Fontana, and hopefully turn it into a victory.
Busch says victory “takes pressure off” while they focus on improvement
While other drivers fell victim to flat tires during the course of the Auto Club 500, Kyle Busch was able to survive and pick up the victory.
“It’s exciting to be able to win a race this early in the season, although Joe thinks it’s been forever, and to put a winner’s sticker on our roof is certainly good,” Busch commented post-race. “it just gives us a little bit of — I wouldn’t say relaxation, but it certainly takes the pressure off of winning and making the Chase.”
For the second straight year, Busch took the victory at Auto Club Speedway with a last lap three-wide pass. Last year he got by Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin while they battled it out. This year, he was able to get by Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart while they were battling for the lead off of turn two.
“Once I was able to do that, I exited Turn 2 with Kurt and Tony side by side in front of me, and then I was kind of on an island and it seemed like everybody behind me was racing, too,” Busch explained the last lap. “So it gave me an opportunity to not have to mess with anybody, and back down into Turn 1 after we took the white for the final lap, Kurt and Tony were still side by side, they went off in there. I was going to shoot the middle because I saw Tony going to the bottom, but as soon as he went in and got to the bottom he started sliding up the racetrack, so I had to do some wheeling and dealing to get myself to cut low and get underneath Tony, and when I did that and accelerated off the corner, I passed both those guys but Kyle Larson was right on me.
“Luckily, I just got a good enough run off Turn 2 that I got some distance between him and I before Turn 3. I don’t know how close he got or where he was or what happened. I was just focused on forward, and luckily we made it back, and we took the checkered, so that was pretty cool.”
Busch battled Larson on Saturday’s Nationwide Series race with Larson getting the win that day. With Sunday’s Sprint Cup race, Busch got the victory while Larson drove to second and his best career finish.
“It gives him the perfect opportunity on Saturdays to perform well on Sundays and vice versa,” Busch commented on Larson. “Now that he’s a Cup guy and performing well on Sundays, it gives him the confidence and the belief in himself and his team that he can do it Saturday and Sunday both.”
Throughout the course of the race, many drivers saw tire issues throughout the day that took them out of contention. Busch and Larson, meanwhile, had no issues that brought him to pit road early or hurt their performance.
“I don’t know what it’s a testament to, but our team believes it’s too low of air pressure and that’s what those were doing to get them to wear funny and essentially blow out during the run,” Busch commented. “We never had any issues during the whole race, I don’t think the 11 did, I don’t think the 20 did, so we’re all good. Overall the performance of the tires I felt like were fine. I had no issues with them. I think you just — it’s sort of like playing with fire. If you pour too much gas on it or let too much air out of it, the thing is going to go boom.”
Now with a win under his belt, Busch is focused on winning more races and improving his package better as he feels that they need to do some work – as a whole organization.
“We’re kind of all over the place, I feel like,” Busch says in speaking of himself and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates. “But all in all, with the race that we had today, to be in victory lane is a huge relief. We’re excited about that and now we’ve just got to put our focus forward on continuing to work hard and look forward to the next few weeks.”
Surprising and Not Surprising: Fontana Auto Club 400
From the unique race command from Muppet star Gonzo to Denny Hamlin’s pre-race trip to the hospital for a sinus infection and vision problems, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the Auto Club 400 in Fontana, California.
Surprising: There are not many drivers who, after winning a thrilling race in green-white-checkered fashion, can combine ‘Days of Thunder’ with faith-filled references right out of ‘Talladega Nights’. But Kyle Busch surprisingly managed to pull it all together in his Victory Lane remarks.
“Man oh man. The first thing that comes to mind when the caution came out with just a few laps to go — that was total Rowdy Burns ‘Days of Thunder’ right there,” the driver of the No. 18 No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry said. “There’s a couple laps to go — I’m not pitting.”
“Everybody has to pit, Cole (Trickle), we’re coming down for four tires because there’s a green-white-checkered coming,” Busch continued. “I knew four tires was going to win the race, so I’m glad Dave (Rogers, crew chief) called that.”
“I was able to keep Kyle Larson behind me. Man, what a shoe that boy is,” Busch continued. “If he drove it in further than I did, Jesus must have told him to stop.”
“I just can’t believe it. I thank the Lord for putting ourselves here and getting us locked in the Chase.”
This was Busch’s 29th win in 334 Cup races but his first victory of the 2014 season. This was his third victory and 12th top-10 finish at Auto Club Speedway.
Not Surprising: What double file restarts and shortening up the length of the race has done for Pocono Raceway, the rough, aged racing surface with multiple grooves and huge bumps has done the same, if not more, for Auto Club Speedway.
In fact, it seemed like just a few years ago when the track was criticized for boring racing and the grandstands were empty. This Cup race yielded some of the most exciting racing to date, with six and seven cars abreast, in front of a packed house, most of whom barely sat down for the entirety of the show.
Surprising: Kyle Larson went from thinking he was pretty much going to have a tough day to finishing as the highest running rookie, in P2 no less. This stellar finish came on the heels of his Nationwide victory over none other than Cup race winner Kyle Busch.
“I thought we were in trouble or not be able to get to the front,” the driver of the No. 42 said after the race. “I don’t know where everybody went on that last restart.”
“It went through my mind then that I might sweep the weekend,” Larson continued. “That last run, we got good enough to charge to the front. What a weekend.”
Not Surprising: Sam Hornish’s new mantra should be ‘have helmet, will drive.’ Originally, the currently unspoken for driver was on standby to drive for Matt Kenseth in the event that his wife Katie went into labor with their third child.
In the end, however, Hornish ended up substitute driving for Denny Hamlin, finishing a respectable 17th in the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota. This was his best finish since his 13th place run in 2012 at Martinsville.
Surprising: The normally cool, calm and collected Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 Farmland Ford Fusion, had some surprisingly harsh words for competitor No 33 car driver Brian Scott after their accident brought out the fourth caution of the race.
“The 33 was obviously a dart without feathers and coming across the race track,” Almirola said. “Man, he came from all the way at the bottom of the race track and ran into me.”
“He’s not even racing this series for points,” Almirola continued. “He’s out there having fun because his daddy gets to pay for it and he wrecked us.”
Not Surprising: After tires blew out in practice as well as the race, the debate not surprisingly was on as far as what exactly led to so many tire issues, especially in the left rear.
Brad Keselowski, a driver that suffered particular tire problems in practice and the race, weighed in after the race to share his perspective.
“There were a lot of reasons why we blew a tire today or two or five over the weekend and the field did,’’ Keselowski said after finishing 26th. “I don’t know what to really say about it. As a driver you are left between the choice of driving your car to the limit and blowing a tire out or being a wuss and saving it.”
NASCAR’s most popular driver weighed in with a whole different take on the tire situation.
“I don’t think there is anything wrong with the tire OR the way we choose 2 use them,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted after the race. “My bet is it’s the bumps on the backstretch.”
“Those are more like jumps and ramps.”
NASCAR representative Vice President for Competition Robin Pemberton shared the more official perspective, saying that some teams were running tires with air pressures as low as 14 pounds, whereas Goodyear had commended tire pressures at 22 pounds for the race weekend.
And finally, Goodyear, echoing Pemberton’s assessment, advised that the problems were not tire-related but more team-related due to the very aggressive set ups.
“Every left-side tire that we’ve seen gone down or had issues with is kind of the same characteristics as (Saturday),’’ Greg Stucker, Director of Race Tire Sales for Goodyear, said. “The common denominator being aggressive on air pressure.”
“You’re in race conditions, so everybody is running a little bit harder.”
Surprising: For the second straight race, NASCAR official human error came into play. This weekend, a NASCAR official actually got his uniform stuck in the fence and he literally could not move to flip the pit road light switch to green.
Because of this error, Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer did not pit because there was a red light instead of a green light.
All three drivers went on to suffer less than ideal finishes, with Jeff Gordon finishing the best of the bunch in 13th, Bowyer in 16th and Keselowski in 26th.
“We can’t seem to catch a break,” Bowyer said. “We lead for a while, we came back after confusion with the lights on pit road and were in contention to win at the end.”
“However, we started feeling a vibration with about four to go and it just didn’t make it,” Bowyer continued. “It just stinks for this team.”
Not Surprising: Bosses sometimes do influence the workplace even at the track. One of NASCAR’s most notable bosses, team owner Rick Hendrick, played the encourager role with driver Jeff Gordon, who started from the back not once but twice, passing at least 70 plus cars.
Kurt Busch, who finished third, was also quite emotional about racing with his boss Tony Stewart. “The amount of emotions running well today and we were face and then to race your boss for the win,” Busch said. “Neither one of us got the win but it was a genuine moment for us to race.”
The Cup Series heads next to Martinsville Speedway for the STP 500.
