NASCAR’s Goodyear Experiment at Phoenix Seems to Bust as Practice Results Disappoint

Even though Phoenix isn’t technically a short track, NASCAR chose to use it for their short-track package tests. The big goal was to lower the downforce, making the cars more nimble and easier to whip around for passing, thanks to tweaks like a simpler diffuser, a tinier rear spoiler, ditching the windshield wipers, and tweaking tire setups to fit the new package.

But it looks like the earlier [December 2023] optimism from Kyle Larson and other drivers from earlier tests might have been a bit premature. During practice, it became clear that the magic formula they were hoping for didn’t quite pan out, especially with the Goodyear tires not living up to the hype.

Has Goodyear failed to deliver in the practice?

Goodyear rolled out a new change for the tires at Phoenix Raceway as NASCAR experiments with its short-track package. This week, Goodyear aimed to build on what it started during last year’s Martinsville Speedway race and a December test at Phoenix. Their update was a thicker tread on the short-track tire package. This beefier tread was aimed at trapping more heat in the tires on shorter tracks, hoping to introduce more tire wear over time, demanding more strategy from the teams, and dialing up the race’s intensity. In earlier practice tests, drivers testing these tires noted they felt a better grip and more feedback from the road.

For the Cup cars hitting Phoenix, Goodyear’s equipped them with 18-inch bead-diameter tires, marking a shift from the setups run in the Xfinity Series this week. It’s a first for the Cup teams to use these specific tire codes from Goodyear, which sport more tread thickness compared to last season’s Phoenix race. This extra tread is all about keeping the tires warm and giving the cars a tighter grip, all in service of spicing up the action on NASCAR’s short tracks.

So far, the verdict’s in, and it’s a bit of a letdown. Lap times have been taking a hit, slowing down by more than a second during a 20-lap stretch. Take, for instance, Kyle Larson chasing down Austin Dillon. Larson was on Dillon’s tail for a good few laps, trying different ways to overtake, but just couldn’t make the move. Before long, Dillon widened the gap over Larson in the next 10 laps.

Goodyear didn’t just show up; they came fully geared up this week. They had their 18-inch wet weather tires on standby for the Cup cars at Phoenix, ready to roll out if the weather turned sour. Cup teams were all set to have up to four sets of these wet-weather tires for the race. The last time Cup teams raced on wet tires was on the streets of Chicago last July, and before that, on a short track during the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro last May.

But judging by how things are panning out, it seems the Goodyear tires haven’t quite hit the mark with the updates they brought in. Still, it’ll be intriguing to see how this setup fares on different tracks as the season progresses.

NASCAR will have the same setup run in the cars on four more tracks

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Cup teams are gearing up to roll out this same tire setup at a few more tracks down the line, hitting Gateway, New Hampshire, and Richmond later in the season. These 18-inch tires, sporting lower profile sidewalls, mean the NASCAR Cup cars will be ditching inner liners across the board.

Also on the agenda, North Wilkesboro Speedway is setting the stage for a Goodyear Tire Test on March 12 for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, followed by a test for the NASCAR Cup Series the next day. The track’s getting a fresh layer of asphalt for the first time since ’84, all prepped and primed for the Wright Brand 250 in May, along with the All-Star Open and NASCAR All-Star Race.

Read More: EXPLAINED: NASCAR’s New Short Track Package Being Used at Phoenix and Its Impact

For the truck series test, we’ll see Ben Rhodes in the #99 ThorSport Racing Ford, Corey Heim in the #11 TRICON Garage Toyota, and Christian Eckes tearing it up in the #19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet. Then, for the Cup series, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs, and William Byron will be hitting the track, showcasing those tire tweaks in their #22 Team Penske Ford, #54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and #24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, respectively.