The key question after Sunday’s Food City 500 at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway is this – was the severe tire wear good or bad for NASCAR?
Between blown tires and slowed pace, drivers and teams were thrown for a loop at the 0.533-mile oval.
Instead of the typical PJ1 compound used to aid with grip levels on the Bristol concrete, NASCAR used resin instead.
During the 500-mile race, Goodyear’s director of racing, Greg Stucker, spoke to the media to describe the situation at hand.
“We tested here last fall with the intent to come up with a tire package that generated more tire wear,” Stucker began. “That was the request from NASCAR and the teams. We feel like we had a very successful test, we feel like we had a very successful race in the fall of last year.”
Stucker continued, stating the resin placed on the track surface by Bristol was the key to the drastic change in on-track product.
“Now, we’re trying to understand what’s different, why is the race track behaving differently this weekend than what it did a year ago. It’s the same package, it’s the same tire combination,” Stucker said.
“Obviously the difference is resin was placed on the lower groove instead of the PJ1.”
While Goodyear is left to ponder the sudden change in tire wear, the majority drivers on the other hand, were left with one word – fun.
Behind race-winner Denny Hamlin, third-place finisher Brad Keselowski enjoyed the challenge that the tire wear presented.
“It was an interesting day. There was a lot of discipline required and it was a fun race, to be honest, because you just had to be so smart behind the wheel,” Keselowski said. “It would bite you in a heartbeat and you had to have a good setup.
“I think we had a good setup and tried to run the smartest race I could.”
Second-place starter Josh Berry led 25 laps before ultimately finishing 12th, one lap down. Despite fading late, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver also welcomed the type of race that was presented.
“That was a good weekend. We had good speed. I was really pretty happy with the car. Obviously, there were a number of issues going on,” Berry said. “I’m really kind of speechless on that part, but I thought we did a good job of managing everything. We made some adjustments at the end which seemed to cause the cording a little bit sooner and that kind of tied our hands a little bit towards the end, but, all in all, it was a great effort.
“I hate that we didn’t get a top 10, but it was a positive day and, honestly, with everything going on it was a lot of fun.”
It was a stellar day for Rick Ware Racing’s Justin Haley, who finished 17th after competing within the top 10 for most of the day.
While the finish wasn’t what Haley was aiming for, the word, ‘fun’, still rang true.
“I loved it. I don’t know what social media says, but as a driver I thought it was fun because you had to manage it,” Haley said. “You weren’t all-out the whole time, so it was fun to have a major part in how the car ran.”
A Mixed Bag For Larson
2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, who finished fifth, was the last driver who finished on the lead lap. In what was a solid day for the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team, Larson had a mixed bag of takeaways from the event.
“That was weird. It wasn’t fun to ride around like that,” Larson said. “You never really knew how to manage your stuff.
“Then there at the end when we were all dying and what not and everybody’s afraid to pit because you just didn’t want to get caught on pit road with somebody spinning out, then you’re laps down.”
While ‘weird’ was the term Larson used, he also felt the race was enjoyable, but under one circumstance.
“If I knew I was only doing this one time, I would say that was a lot of… kind of fun,” Larson admitted. “It was weird. To have to manage and guess on how hard to run, guess how each run was gonna play out. You were constantly in traffic and managing distance to people in front, behind.
“The strategy side of that as the driver seems kinda fun, but I would never want to do that again.”
Blaney’s Stern Words
On the opposite end of the equation was reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney.
After finishing 16th, two laps down, the Team Penske driver was critical of the race, stating he didn’t enjoy the situation at hand.
“No. I didn’t have fun,” Blaney said. “What’s fun about riding around, grouping around there, can’t run 50 laps unless you blow a tire? You got guys with blown stuff creeping around the race track.
“I can’t believe there wasn’t an accident. Everybody blew a tire there before the last pit stop.”
Blaney doubled down, stating he felt the situation was eerily similar to this year’s Daytona 500 which saw drivers and teams enforce increased fuel strategy.
“It was literally, we were two-by-two, creeping around there, quarter throttle, saving your tires and you just don’t know when you wanna go or not.
“They say they brought the same tire, but that is absolute B.S.”
The differing opinions will be a topic of conversation as NASCAR and Goodyear collaborate on what the best solution is going forward.