Goodyear mulls bigger tires for CoT
Published: Sun, Aug. 03, 2008 12:30AM
Modified Sun, Aug. 03, 2008 02:44AM
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closeA bigger tire could be in NASCAR's future. In the wake of last week's tire controversy at Indianapolis, where some of its tires failed, Goodyear is looking ahead to a tire that could work better with NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow, a bigger, heavier vehicle than the previous models used in Sprint Cup.
"We had some discussion about a larger tire ... several years ago with NASCAR when we started this whole discussion about the Car of Tomorrow," said Stu Grant, general manager of worldwide racing for Goodyear, the exclusive tire supplier for NASCAR's top three professional series.
"But, obviously, we've been working with the current size on the Car of Tomorrow. This spring, we decided to ramp that [new] program up."
POINTS STANDINGS
1. Kyle Busch 3,004
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.2,751
3. Jeff Burton 2,733
4. Jimmie Johnson 2,689
5. Carl Edwards 2,684
6. Jeff Gordon 2,544
7. Greg Biffle 2,460
8. Denny Hamlin 2,453
9. Kasey Kahne 2,441
10. Tony Stewart 2,399
11. Matt Kenseth 2,366
12. Clint Bowyer 2,362
13. Kevin Harvick 2,360
14. David Ragan 2,306
15. Brian Vickers 2,230
16. Ryan Newman 2,218
17. Martin Truex Jr. 2,146
18. Kurt Busch 2,081
19. Bobby Labonte 2,020
20. Jamie McMurray 1,973
21. Elliott Sadler 1,959
22. Juan Pablo Montoya 1,909
23. Travis Kvapil 1,901
24. David Gilliland 1,875
25. Casey Mears 1,867
26. Mark Martin 1,813
27. David Reutimann 1,790
28. Paul Menard 1,767
29. Robby Gordon 1,636
30. Dave Blaney 1,626
31. Reed Sorenson 1,608
32. Michael Waltrip 1,597
33. Sam Hornish Jr. 1,522
34. Regan Smith 1,496
35. Scott Riggs 1,407
36. Patrick Carpentier 1,230
37. J.J. Yeley 1,217
38. Joe Nemechek 1,183
39. Michael McDowell 1,021
40. AJ Allmendinger 990
41. Dario Franchitti 606
42. Bill Elliott 597
43. Jeremy Mayfield 578
44. Terry Labonte 565
45. Kyle Petty 540
46. Mike Skinner 423
47. Aric Almirola 416
48. Dale Jarrett 367
49. Ken Schrader 298
50. Sterling Marlin 268
TODAY'S LINEUP
With car number in parentheses, driver, make of car and qualifying speed in mph
1. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 168.215.
2. (8) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 167.560.
3. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 167.187.
4. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 167.106.
5. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 166.883.
6. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 166.784.
7. (9) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 166.522.
8. (83) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 166.522.
9. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 166.516.
10. (2) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 166.445.
11. (43) Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 166.392.
12. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 166.349.
13. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dodge, 166.199.
14. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 166.153.
15. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 166.076.
16. (6) David Ragan, Ford, 165.932.
17. (1) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 165.914.
18. (70) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 165.868.
19. (28) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 165.828.
20. (20) Tony Stewart, Toyota, 165.773.
21. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 165.767.
22. (15) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 165.606.
23. (78) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 165.587.
24. (22) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 165.569.
25. (10) Terry Labonte, Dodge, 165.520.
26. (77) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 165.514.
27. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 165.499.
28. (44) David Reutimann, Toyota, 165.466.
29. (19) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 165.432.
30. (07) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 165.371.
31. (84) AJ Allmendinger, Toyota, 165.201.
32. (41) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 165.168.
33. (5) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 165.159.
34. (45) Chad McCumbee, Dodge, 165.029.
35. (00) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 165.010.
36. (01) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 164.751.
37. (21) Bill Elliott, Ford, 164.705.
38. (7) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 164.684.
39. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 164.660.
40. (66) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 164.546.
41. (26) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 164.525.
42. (55) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 164.177.
43. (96) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 163.271.
Failed to qualify
44. (34) Chad Chaffin, Chevrolet, 161.316.
BY THE NUMBERS
2.8: average finish in 5 Pocono starts for Denny Hamlin
6: season sweeps at Pocono, most recently in 2004 and 2006
377: laps led by Mark Martin, most by a Pocono non-winner
GREEN FLAG: 2 p.m.
TV: ESPN
RADIO: WQDR-94.7
RACE: No. 21 of 36
DISTANCE: 500 miles, 200 laps
POLE-SITTER: Jimmie Johnson
QUALIFYING RECORD: Kasey Kahne, 172.533 mph, June 13, 2004
FORECAST: Mostly sunny, 74 degrees
2007 WINNER: Kurt Busch
RACE RECORD: Rusty Wallace, 144.892 mph, July 21, 1996
LOOKING AHEAD
WHAT: Centurion Boats at the Glen
WHERE: Watkins Glen International
GREEN FLAG: 2 p.m., Aug. 10
TV: ESPN
RADIO: WQDR-94.7
2007 WINNER: Tony Stewart
More Sports
Grant said there would be several differences from the current tire.
"We are working on a larger contain-air volume, a bigger section width, taller tire, larger bead diameter," he said. "Right now, it's all modeling. We're trying to figure out what the right size would be."
Goodyear hopes the bigger tire would be a better match for the CoT, but it will be two years before the new model would be available.
The problems at Indy, where rightside tires, and particularly right rears, were wearing out much too fast, was completely different from Atlanta, where Goodyear also had a disastrous race in March, Grant said.
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