Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Race No. 29 – Apache Warrior 400
NASCAR Xfinity Series, Race No. 28 – Use Your Melon, Drive Sober 200
Monster Mile Presents Many Challenges: Goodyear will bring a different tire set-up to Dover Motor Speedway than it did for the spring race, with changes on both sides of the car. On the left-side, there is a compound change to give the cars more grip, as Goodyear tunes to NASCAR’s low downforce settings. On the right-side of the car, there is a construction change to enhance durability, as Goodyear has done at many speedways.
The changes to the right-side are important because of the speeds and loads the tires on that side of the car experience with the high degree of banking at Dover. In addition to that, the tread compound used on the right-side is designed to rubber-in the concrete track surface to the appropriate level.
“Dover presents several unique challenges, from the banking that generates high loads and speeds to the concrete surface that needs to take rubber,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “What we’ve done with this right-side construction is part of the ongoing enhancement in durability we’ve developed as the NASCAR race package evolves. At the same time, we were able to give the cars a little more grip with this left-side compound, while we continue to rely on this right-side compound to lay rubber on the track. Since we start the weekend with a white concrete surface, fans will watch it rapidly turn to black with rubber. During the race, specifically during caution periods, fans can see it lighten in color again as cars pick up rubber off the track surface. This happens because the cars are not at speed and are not actively laying rubber, allowing the hot tires to pick up much of what was laid down on the previous run. But the rubber will go down quickly again once the race goes back to green. This actually happens on all race tracks, but it is just more noticeable on the lighter concrete surface versus darker asphalt.”
Tire Notes: Teams in both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series will run the same tire set-up at Dover this weekend, the first time these teams have run this combination of left- and right-side tires at Dover, though they did run these same tire codes at Darlington four weeks ago.
Compared to what was run at Dover in June, this left-side tire code (D-4728) features a compound change to provide more grip, while this right-side code (D-4742) features a construction change to align it with what is run at other speedways. This tire set-up came out of a Goodyear test at Dover on July 25 with drivers Chris Buescher, Landon Cassill, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth and JoeyLogano participating.
Dover is unique among NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length, in that inner liners are required on all four tire positions. The air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
