Denny Hamlin was one of the first drivers to express optimism about Goodyear’s new softer tire compound for the All-Star race.
This occurred following the practice runs on Friday, when the weather was hot and sunny. However, the colder temperatures during the main race changed things up a bit, causing the tires to live longer than anticipated.
Despite not being the most encouraging result for the All-Star race, Goodyear made an admirable effort to improve the short-track racing package.
And, while they are in charge of attempting to improve the racing experience, Hamlin believes that teams and drivers should be included.
Despite not being the most promising result for the All-Star race, this was indeed a good attempt by Goodyear to improve the short-track racing package. And while they are the ones responsible for trying to improve the racing experience, Hamlin believes teams and drivers should be added to this mix.
It’s no secret that NASCAR’s new short-track package hasn’t lived up to the billing of improving short-track races. And given NASCAR’s stubbornness in not providing more horsepower, a new tire compound seemed like the only way to solve the recent racing woes. Although the new Goodyear option tire hasn’t proved to be a game-changer just yet, Hamlin wants NASCAR to allow the teams to experiment with it during the races.
Sharing his suggestion regarding the development of the new softer tire, Hamlin, talking to Peter Stratta, said, “I think certainly you can go to a lot of tracks. I like an idea of an option tire everywhere. You have an option at intermediate, option at short track and we will figure out when to run it. That typically will lead to more passing throughout the race for sure.”
It wasn’t just Hamlin who appreciated Goodyear’s effort in trying to bring something new to the table. Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team, tipped his hat to Goodyear’s attempt by stating, “I do think a very genuine, a solid attempt was there to try to do something different, and unfortunately, kind of the everyone’s surprise, the tires didn’t have the fall-off, the degradation that we thought it would have.”
It’s fair to say, that Goodyear and NASCAR still have a long way ahead of them before cracking the short-track package code. At the same time, by no means was the tire experiment a failure. All it needs is some time and effort, and that’s exactly what’s lined up ahead.
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