Despite Goodyear Becoming Drivers’ Nightmare, Tony Stewart Refrains Calling Out NASCAR’s $4.2 Billion Worth Sponsor

In the 68th year of its partnership with NASCAR, Goodyear has recently faced a lot of flak. Ever since the induction of the Next Gen car in 2022, the Goodyear-sourced tires have been struggling to keep up with the demands of the evolved car. Owing to multiple tire failures during the 2022 season, the Ohio-based tire manufacturer faced the brunt of drivers’ criticism. Drifting away from the drivers’ norm, Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner and SRX Racing co-founder Tony Stewart refrained from calling out Goodyear in a recent interview.

Retiring from NASCAR post the 2016 season, Tony ‘Smoke’ Stewart founded the Superstar Racing Experience (Camping World SRX Series), which commenced its maiden season in 2021. Fielding about 12 to 13 drivers per race, the SRX Series added Goodyear as its official tire partner.

Unlike many, Tony Stewart is out and loud applauding Goodyear’s efforts

Earlier, Goodyear provided bias-ply tires; for the 2023 season, Goodyear chose to field radial tires in the SRX Series. Having thicker sidewalls, the radial tires were substantially taller than the outgoing bias-ply tires. But all wasn’t hunky-dory, as the newer tires presented a new problem: brake failures.

During the course of the 2023 season’s second SRX race at Stafford Springs, multiple drivers fell prey to braking issues. The most notable of those drivers were Ryan Preece and Tony Kanaan, who during the final laps lost their lead to race winner Ryan Newman. In a post-race interview, Tony Stewart (who drives the #14 SRX car) was questioned regarding drivers combating brake failures.

Many would expect the SRX founder to take a shot at Goodyear, but that would not be the case. Commending Goodyear for its initiative to switch to radial tires, Smoke said, “With the Goodyears that we have, the radial this year, it’s a better tire than the bias ply, and it’s a little bit taller tire too. So the motors don’t break as much as they did with a smaller tire. So I think that’s a little bit of it, but you know, I think just the pace is quicker with the radial. It’s a better tire; it always has been.”

Iterating how brake failures were not Goodyear’s fault, Tony Stewart added, “I mean Goodyear’s got a pretty good handle on the radial. So you know, we just we’re running faster, the pace is quicker, and when the pace is faster you got to use more brake.”

Although Smoke praised Goodyear’s SRX venture, the same cannot be said about NASCAR. Under heavy criticism from drivers, Goodyear set out on a mission to make things right.  

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A test for new tire compounds remains pending

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Drivers were already struggling with NASCAR’s Next Gen’s short-track package, and the Goodyear-sourced tires only added to drivers’ troubles. Having faced heavy criticism, Goodyear developed a softer tire compound and tested it out at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in April 2023. The new tires then debuted at the Crayon 301 Cup Series on Monday, receiving mixed reactions from drivers.

In a bid to further improve its tires, Goodyear then had plans in place to test out various tire compounds and tire structures post the conclusion of the Crayon 301 at New Hampshire. With the race getting delayed owing to a rain threat, the test has been scheduled for 31st July and 1st August.

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Constantly striving to deliver a better product, how Goodyear fares in the upcoming test remains to be seen.