RICHMOND, Va. — When the NASCAR Cup Series returns from its two-week break at Richmond (Va.) Raceway, a change regarding tires will be in place.
For Sunday’s 400-lapper at the three-quarter-mile short track, teams will have the ability to choose between multiple tire compounds – similar to IndyCar or Formula 1.
NASCAR experimented using a softer “option” tire in May’s All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, which was deemed a success. Designated by red lettering, the option tire will lead to quicker speeds at the expense of greater tire wear, while the baseline “prime” tires will have the typical yellow lettering.
Teams will have 10 sets of tires for the Richmond race weekend, which includes a 45-minute practice session on Saturday. Three of those sets are the option tire, including one for the practice session.
“There’s never been a points race where we’ve had multiple option tires. It’s going to be a new component of strategy that we’ve never seen before,” said Chase Briscoe. “North Wilkesboro is a little unique in the sense of, with it being newly repaved, it didn’t really chew up tires a whole lot, where Richmond will certainly chew up tires. I think there’s going to be a lot of strategy involved.”
It’s been 20 years since Richmond’s been repaved, and one could argue that the quality of racing has decreased over time. Drivers believe that multiple tire types could help negate some of the effects of the aging surface.
“If you’re the guy who qualified 30th and need track position and trying not to go a lap down early, it’s an opportunity to use it to drive forward and get track position and possibly get stage points and try and guarantee you something there,” Ryan Preece said. “It opens up strategy and, ultimately, you just have to have a car that’s good on both.
“I think it opens up the strategy because that tire is faster, and with having a limited amount of sets, if your car is fast and you have track position, you can choose to use that tire later.”
While NASCAR isn’t mandating when teams use their sets of tires, the sanctioning body requires that all four tires on a car must match.
“It’s trial and error,” said Noah Gragson. “The All-Star Race was a test, but I don’t think North Wilkesboro was the right test for it. It just showed that Goodyear could make a softer tire with a little more grip, but with an old, worn-out track, will it wear out a lot faster where you could pass at the beginning of the run? Will you have to save it?
“We’ll see. I think you’re just going to use (the option tires) the last two runs of the race, pretty much.”
The idea of multiple tire types is completely foreign to NASCAR, but Briscoe believes that it could favor those with a late-model background. Short-track racing, especially as many local facilities have worn-out surfaces, requires tire management to succeed.
That could be a recipe for success for some of NASCAR’s old-school drivers.
“I think guys like Josh Berry, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, guys who are just really good at understanding where the tire is and the life of it,” Briscoe said. “I feel like sprint car guys kind of struggle with that a lot of the time just because we don’t have a lot of experience doing it.
“We’ve kind of been trying everything else and nothing’s really seemed to move the needle (at Richmond). I do think this is another thing to throw at it to see if it makes a difference.”
Sunday’s race is set for 6 p.m. ET on USA Network – marking the second Richmond race under the lights in 2024.