After the two-week Olympic break racing is finally returning to Richmond. The Richmond race will mark the first out of the four remaining before the playoffs begin. At such a crucial stage of the series, NASCAR has decided to introduce an additional level of thrill. In the race, the teams will be allowed to use two types of Goodyear tires- basically soft ones and hard ones.

Due to this, the teams will have to implement a completely different tire strategy to try and get a good track position. What NASCAR did to increase the challenge and get fans excited, has gotten a backlash from fans. They deemed the tire change move as a mere excuse by the authorities.

Richmond Raceway with a different tire strategy

To dwell more on the details, the teams will strategize between two Goodyear tire compounds. The softer “option” tire, offers superior grip for faster lap times but wears out quicker, while the “prime” tire provides consistent performance but less initial traction. To differentiate the two, the option tire has red-colored text printed on it and the prime ones have yellow-colored text. Teams will be allocated six sets of soft tires and two sets of hard ones. The challenge is when to choose speed over grip. This experiment poses a challenge as a wrong choice by one team can wreck some other team’s car, throwing them out of the race. NASCAR in their Instagram post explains the difference between the two tires.

This is the first time NASCAR has implemented these types of tires in a points race. However, they were previously used in the NASCAR All-Star Race, at North Wilkesboro Speedway. According to the NASCAR vice president, Elton Sawyer the experiment at Wilkesboro did not yield the results they expected. And going into Richmond such a tire would increase the entertainment value of the race. On the same lines, he said, “Any time we can put our teams in a position where they have to manage tires, we really see some great racing and we see an entertaining race, so that’s our goal going into Richmond.” This is an attempt from NASCAR to solidify their short-track package.

The experiment also failed at Wilkesboro as the track was freshly paved. Hence, the tires did not wear as they were supposed to. Hopefully, this would play out as expected on the old Asphalt track of Richmond. The last winner of the Richmond Raceway, Denny Hamlin is excited by this move of NASCAR. Ahead of the race, weekend he shared his thoughts, “I think it could be really good and compelling for the show because I think you are going to have people that will use it and be fast for a little while and then really slow. So I’m excited for it. I think that I like their idea of let’s use this at Richmond and see if this could be our baseline short-track tire when we go to all short tracks. So I really like their thinking and testing it out this kind of way.”

Unlike Hamlin, fans are not excited about this move. They think it’s just another one of NASCAR’s excuses to not introduce more important upgrades to the racing format.

Fans not impressed by the hard-soft tire move

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As Elton Sawyer previously said this move will increase the entertainment value, however, the move has received a backlash from fans. Fans want other upgrades to cars which would make things more interesting to watch. According to one fan, NASCAR is just delaying those by introducing such changes. He wrote, “Anything to avoid increasing horsepower, lowering the spoiler height, decreasing the size of the brake pads.” Another one, on the same lines, wrote, “how about instead more HP and we fix the air blocking.” Taking a similar jibe at NASCAR, one fan predicted their next excuse, he wrote, “Just repave Richmond for next year after thos.”

The hard-soft format is what they use in Formula One. There is also a medium tire there, however that format is completely different. Those tracks have sharper turns as compared to the highly banked turns at NASCAR. Fans are not understanding why NASCAR is trying to mimic F1. On these lines, one fan wrote, “So basically what F1 does but for NASCAR. Minus the sharp turns, and with longer laps that sort of make the soft tires a little useless long term.” Expressing the same emotions, another one wrote, “This isn’t F1 what.”

Only time will tell if NASCAR’s experiment with these tires passes or fails. If it is a success we might get to see the same in the playoff race in Bristol which is also a short track. Are you excited about these tires? Let us know in the comments below.