Back on August 20-21, both NASCAR and Goodyear conducted a pair of tests at Martinsville Speedway that had parallel but separate goals of improving the racing product at Martinsville Speedway.
Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace and Todd Gilliland tested tires while Carson Hocevar, Justin Haley and Erik Jones tested a variety of underbody and transaxle reconfigurations. It seems as though the tire testing produced more promising fruit than any aerodynamic or rear suspension and gear box changes.
One of the tires tested at Martinsville was the softer option tire used at both North Wilkesboro and Richmond Raceway during the race that featured two different compounds. Kyle Busch said his favorite tire at the Martinsville test was that option tire.
“I actually liked it as my first favorite set at Martinsville,” said the two-time Cup Series champion. “I ran it in the morning and Bubba Wallace ran it in the afternoon when it was hotter.
“There was another set that used the option softer right sides and a softer gummier left side that was my second favorite set. I don’t know which set they’ll decide to use but I ran the control (set) and only fell off .3 to .4 over a 60-lap run and ran the (options) and fell of three quarters of a second during a 60 lap run.
“Definitely some better opportunities there, but some more work to be done with their cars, that might open up some passing.”
Wallace did believe the option tire was directionally positive as well.
“We tried some tire stuff and found something that will fall off and create wear but it’s the timing of it, a month and a half away, it puts Goodyear in a tight spot to create what we need so we may not see until down the line but all in all, it was a good test, ” Wallace said.
Despite the optimism over the tires, Busch also doesn’t think that is enough to get the Cup product at the paperclip shaped half-mile where everyone wants it to be.
“I just don’t think the tire is going to be the all-out fix for Martinsville and I say that because I was on 20-lap fresher tires than Carson Hocevar and I ran him down and then got stuck behind him for 10 laps and had a hard time passing him and that to me is an aero problem still,” Busch said.
NASCAR has said it is done with trying to improve the short track racing product, especially for flatter tracks, and is instead hoping to create passing opportunities through softer tires or multiple tire compounds in a single race like what was used at Richmond last month.
But Hocevar said NASCAR is still trying to improve underbody performance and to solve the shifting woes but didn’t seem to have much success.
“They tried some camber things in the rear and tried some stuff with the transaxle just to make the left rear spin more but it didn’t really do anything,” Hocevar said. “All it did was make me looser a little bit. I just had to adjust my driving and then it felt the same.
“I think the tire probably, from what it sounds like, made a difference. They liked the softer tire. I didn’t get to try that. I had the same tire and it was fun to slide around but we tried some things like taking parts of the underbody out but it all felt the same. We still had a ton of grip and turned in the center pretty good. Not a whole lot of gain, and I don’t want to be all negative, so it sounds like the tires the other guys changed made some gains.”
Gilliland said it’s hard to eliminate the shifting with so little power for how much this car weighs because they would just be full throttle around Martinsville and that would completely kill the racing product.
“To me, it’s a very fine line, right,” Gilliland said. “They tried a test where they didn’t shift so then they had such low RPMS that you’re just on the gas. The RPMS is helping because you can spin the tire so now, you can spin the tire, but you grab a gear and drive off the corner.
“In the old cars, the tire was narrower and we had RPMS and spun the tire. It’s a fine line because if we didn’t have aero, the fastest car would just always win but that’s not the case and I’m sure it will get better.”
Wallace still thinks the shifting is the biggest impediment to a track like Martinsville.
“I would say shifting but I don’t know anything about what happened with their test,” Wallace said. “It was me, (Busch) and (Gilliland) on tires so I have no idea what they tested on the transaxle side.
“But the shifting is what’s ruining the short track stuff. Martinsville is a place where there hasn’t been a lot of fall off. Talking with the Goodyear guys, they said the tire is starting to fall off more, and we all agreed it would be even better without the shifting. I feel like Goodyear is doing their part. We’ll see what happens.”
While they didn’t participate in the test, Cup Series drivers Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick and Kyle Larson all advocated for the softer tire, and maybe to a lesser extent, races with both compounds
“I did enjoy it and I could be sold either way,” Elliott said about Richmond. “I could be sold either way on whether that tire should just be our tire or if you do need something a little softer because we are so very similar each week and will become more similar as time goes on.
“I don’t know that it works everywhere. Don’t hold me to it because I’m still trying to make my mind up but I do think a softer tire is good for sure, one that wears and makes you want tires over ‘how long are we on pit road just for gas.’
“I think that’s probably a good thing but I can also see if we only have a couple sets of softs and someone takes them and uses them up to get to the front, that could also be fun to watch. I could see that mixing it up and create comers and goers like we used to have a little bit more. Where does the road end with that? Where does that lead? I dont know. But I do think a softer tire in general is good.”
Larson, his teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, echoed that sentiment.
“I feel like it would be different from track to track,” Larson said. “Richmond is a great place because it wears out a lot. But, who is to say it would react that way at every track. I think it looked really cool because a couple guys were on different strategies and once everyone had the same tires on, we were running the same laps, but there was still a lot of fall off so I don’t know.
“I think we all want tires that wear and it was a step in the right direction. I don’t know that I want a prime and option tire every week. That feels a little gimmicky but it did make for some exciting points in the stages.”
Reddick enjoyed racing with the option and prime tire and thought the options it provided teams to get strategy or win a stage the way Daniel Suarez did was entertaining when he watched it back.
“I thought the difference between the two was really important,” Reddick said. “At a minimum, we need to have that be the pace difference between the two for that to work and it last 30 laps to allow teams to take the risk and do what the 99 did and have success.
“Not only was the option tire a win in my book but if we do it more, that needs to be the minimum separation.”
NASCAR and Goodyear has not announced the tire compound for Martinsville and Phoenix or if either of those races will use two compounds, the latter of which is unlikely as they will decide the championship in October and November.
