NASCAR Legend Tries to Unmask the Reason Behind the Initial Tire Issues That the Drivers Suffered

When the 2024 NASCAR season began, a number of races were plagued by a few niggling issues. Chief among them were tire issues, where the tires would either wear out quickly or blow up. Remember when Goodyear racing director Greg Stucker said after the Bristol tire issues, “We’re trying to understand what’s different, why the track is behaving differently than a year ago?”

Not to forget, the race in Bristol produced a record 54 lead changes among 16 drivers; as guessed by many, it was tire issues that contributed to the leads, as well as several of the nine cautions that spanned 98 laps. No doubt, it has contributed to a fair amount of exciting races, owing to its unpredictability. However, the NASCAR Cup teams seem to be steadily getting on top of the situations and getting things under control.

In light of this, NASCAR legend Richard Petty spoke about how the unfolding situation which lingered on to the Iowa Speedway this past weekend has another side to it. The 7-time Cup Series champion analyzed the matter at hand which was largely in response to a fan question posed to him on X. The question pertained to how the recent race at the Iowa Speedway played out.

Petty answered the question in his Petty Race Recap, saying, “The way it wound up, it made a really good race out of it. Everybody had to run on the two-groove deals, but the cars ran three abreast. The track was good enough and they’d paved the track where the cars really need to stick. They said they’d had a tire test out there, it was already paved. When the cars went back, they ran a second quicker than what the tire test was. That’s one of the reasons why they had a little bit of tire problems to begin with.”

The best part was that this contributed to the racing product and made it better. However, what could have also helped was the fact that the Iowa Speedway was freshly repaved, so there was plenty of grip available. Things were so great that cars were able to go three-wide on multiple occasions without wrecking too much.

What do NASCAR drivers think of tire problems in Iowa?

According to Richard Petty, the track surface evolved after the tire test ahead of the weekend. Owing to that evolution, the cars were faster on the track, but it also took a toll on the tires. Naturally, this also led to the teams having to adapt to the situations and adjust their strategies accordingly. Drivers post-race also chimed in with their opinions on the same.

“They barely got it done in time I think for the test. I mean it was pretty quick. I know the winters are harsh up here. And obviously, other racetracks that we have up in the north are kind of the same way. I don’t know the for sure reasons why they had to do it, but hopefully it races good,” said Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Next, emphasizing the widening and how that would help, was Hendrick Motorsports’ most popular driver. “I do think the second lane will be decent at some point, but it will definitely need to be worked in. It kind of has that fresh repaved shine to it that is not very inviting to want to go run on. But in the race, you’ll certainly be forced to run higher and I think that’ll end up working it in,” Chase Elliott said.

Further drivers also learned that tire wear was a major factor. Jeb Burton blew a right-front tire entering turn one on lap 73. Austin Hill also blew a tire entering turn one on lap 218. Hill, explaining his state of mind, exclaimed, “I know there’s something going on. I don’t want to lay the blame on Goodyear. It could be the teams being aggressive. We could’ve run over something. We had issues with the left front (blistering) all day.”

In all honesty, tire wear is not new to NASCAR, but it can be a bit annoying because it derails strategies. On the bright side, as Richard Petty believed the tire wear could have been a lot worse, like how it was in Indianapolis, back in 2008. That particular race was regarded as one of the worst races in NASCAR history. The combination of a repaved track, tire construction, and the infamous Car of Tomorrow, was a lethal combination.