Denny Hamlin Exposes Goodyear Shortcomings That Turned Watkins Glen Sour

NASCAR and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s deep-running association extends over 7 decades. For the last 25 years, Goodyear has carried the pride of being NASCAR’s sole official tire partner. Last year, amidst a lot of disgruntlement from fans, we saw Goodyear renewing its deal with the sporting body. The exact reason why NASCAR keeps choosing Goodyear despite all its shortcomings has always puzzled fans. And now, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin has just given another reason for fans to pick on the tire maker. 

Speaking on his “Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin” podcast, the No. 11 Toyota Camry driver talked about his performance at Watkins Glen and got into a detailed explanation of what he felt was wrong with the tires that Goodyear was supplying them.

Goodyear tires are making life a lot more difficult for NASCAR drivers

In the race that went down at Watkins Glen International last weekend, the No. 11 Toyota Camry driver was beaten for the win by HMS star driver William Byron. Discussing the finish and the track, Denny Hamlin got into talking about a theory that, according to him, “went beyond just tires”.

Co-host Jared Allen and the No. 11 driver were discussing the difficulties of making passes on the track when Denny’s theory popped into the conversation. Equating that mistakes had to be made by drivers to enable overtaking, Denny talked about why this was a complexity with the tires being used now.

The 23XI Racing co-owner and Michael Jordan’s partner further explained that the reason we weren’t seeing as many cautions or mistakes as we used to in earlier seasons was because the vehicles’ braking markers weren’t moving like they ought to. Under normal circumstances, the braking markers move as laps progress and tires wear out. But with the current generation of tires that are being used in cars, that doesn’t seem to be happening.

Spelling out this phenomenon, Denny Hamlin said, “So our markers are our markers, are our markers. And they don’t change because the grip of the tire or whatever is the same through the whole run (…) And it just seems like the grip is just so consistent from lap one to lap 40 of a run. We don’t make mistakes because we’ve just, we’ve, we’ve got so many reps at it. We’re not blowing corners anymore. No one’s missing.”

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Denny’s theory was backed by a proper understanding of what used to be and what it is now. Delving deeper into the theory, he went on to throw more light on it.

Denny Hamlin prefers to go by the older methods of racing

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In earlier years, NASCAR cars used to have more horsepower, more downforce, and less grip on their tires. While anyone would see the advancements that have been made in the field as a positive outcome to protect safety, Denny’s point of view made a lot of sense for those who enjoyed the thrill of overtakes and edgy racing. 

Denny decoded and spoke about how he could not even get close to making contact unless it was on a restart. Mentioning the trouble with running too many reps with the same braking marks, he said, “The guy in front of you… in order to pass him, I must overtake him. I’ve got to get a good enough run off the corner to maintain with him. Good luck with that! He’s got all the downpours you don’t, ’cause he’s out front, and then I have to pull out and go a hundred feet—at least a hundred feet—deeper in the corner. That’s not possible! Because the guy in front of you has got the same mark you’ve got, and he’s not going to miss the corner.”

With the problems that Denny voiced out, it appears the promotion’s engineering team might have failed to take certain consequences into consideration. He further said; “If anything, it has reduced the amount of falloff. Because when you take the downforce off, it doesn’t wear out the tires as much”.

Read More: RCR Driver Kyle Busch Delivers His Stance as Goodyear Is Set for a Major Rejig on Iconic Tracks

Denny’s theory will definitely knock loudly on the doors of NASCAR’s headquarters in Daytona Beach. With the calls against Goodyear rising with every passing season, whether NASCAR will lend an ear to the problems faced by its drivers and keep the spirit of good, old racing alive remains a question.