The 2008 Allstate 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was nothing short of a travesty in professional motorsports. In a trend that has continued the entire season, the tires produced by Goodyear were not able to withstand racing conditions, blowing out after only ten to twelve laps at the historic track. In the interest of safety, NASCAR decided to through competition cautions within the ten to twelve lap window, turning what should have been one of the most exciting races on the Sprint Cup Series schedule into nothing more than a joke. If NASCAR does not work more closely with Goodyear in developing tires for the new car, in order to prevent problems like the ones seen at Indy, it will see a significant drop in the track attendance and television ratings.
Since the first practice during the race weekend, drivers and crew chiefs realized that there was a major problem with the tire wear, particularly on the right side tires. Professor Diandra Leslie-Pelecky explains it best on her blog, StockCarScience.com: “The center of gravity of the new car is higher, which means that more weight is transferred from the inside to the outside of the car when turning. Since we turn left, this is why all the problems involved right-side tires.”
Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been notorious of grinding up tires early in the race weekend, but typically, rubber is laid on the track during the practice sessions, reducing the grinding effect and increasing grip. In April, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kurt Busch, and Brian Vickers participated in a tire test at the track, which led Goodyear to use the same tire compound used at the track last season. It was a move that they would soon regret.
The question, then, is: who is at fault for the the “race” that happened on Sunday?
Goodyear has constantly been under fire this season for failing to provide adequate tires to provide safe and competitive tires. At the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Spring, drivers had to deal with hard tires that did not get any grip. And on Sunday, they brought a tire that appeared to be too soft for the track that was unforgiving. Did Goodyear make the wrong choice by using the same tire on a car that does not perform the same as the old car? At the tire test in April, they discovered that the tire wear would be a major factor, yet still brought a tire that did not address the wear issues.
NASCAR has constantly been defending the new car, which debuted full time this season. The sanctioning body even went as far as warning drivers and other team members about speaking poorly about the car. In hindsight, it appears that NASCAR has been too busy defending the performance of the new car instead of making sure the quality of the car, including tires, is at its highest level which would allow drivers to race more than twelve lap heat races and, more importantly, that would give fans their money’s worth.
Both NASCAR and Goodyear have been very insistent that fault cannot be laid on any one group’s shoulders. In certain ways, they are correct. The blame should be spread mostly among the two groups and some on the individual teams. Goodyear should be blamed for providing a poor product. NASCAR should be blamed for not doing quality assurance on the tires provided. Teams are responsible for failing to hold both NASCAR and Goodyear accountable for the actions that affect their race team and their race fans.
Whatever the case may be, NASCAR needs to work with Goodyear and all the teams to improve the performance of the new car. Most importantly, NASCAR needs to take into account driver’s opinions on how to improve the car, something that they have failed to do so far. Drivers are the best resource about what Without constant cooperation among the three groups, NASCAR is going to be doomed to poor ticket sales and poor television viewership. At a time when NASCAR has been struggling to keep fans because of the poor performance of the new car, the “race” at Indy Motor Speedway was a major blow to NASCAR, Goodyear, and the new car.
