
Even though there isn’t a lot that carries over from Bowman Gray Stadium to other short tracks on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, the tire compound produced over a second of falloff over the course of each run.
That is reflective of the work the sanctioning body and Goodyear have put into trying to improve the quality of racing with the seventh-generation car at tracks like Richmond, Martinsville and Phoenix – the latter two deciding the championship again in November.
Brad Moran, the Cup Series managing director talked about the tire used at Bowman Gray and what that means for the season ahead on a Tuesday appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
“Yeah, so what we did, NASCAR and Goodyear, we all consolidate on what our best plan is, and we went with the softest tire we had, which was our Martinsville fall tire. We weren’t so sure with the temperatures because they were pretty low and we weren’t sure how everything was going to react.
“But it was definitely the softest tire we had. I think it worked really well. They did get used up as they went, which is what we wanted. Not a lot of rubber was laid down on the track, and I’m sure that was because of the below 50 temperatures.
“So the drivers definitely had to hang on. I believe that the tire was the best tire for that race.”
For the March 8-9 race weekend at Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR is once again going to contest a dual tire compound race using the option tire used at Richmond last year and if it’s successful, they will make that tire the only one used in the championship deciding race in November.
“Obviously, similar to what we did at Richmond last year, we`re going to do a little learning during the race with all the cars,” Moran said. “That will give us a good idea of what we get. There could be a potential, if everything goes as planned, a tire change for the championship but not with an option tire.
“So, similar to how we got the softer tire that brought us to the great race in the fall at Martinsville. We`re kind of doing the same type of experiment and seeing what we get at Phoenix.
“If we get the results we want, we do have an open tire test scheduled the day after the (spring race) at Phoenix and we’ll probably end up developing a new tire going into Phoenix for the fall. That’s how it’s worked over the past two years, getting to this point with these tires.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.