Goodyear gives teams a tire preview for 2004

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) -- Winning a race by changing only two tires or skipping a tire change to gain track position might be a thing of the past in NASCAR's top series.

In addition to a new racetrack configuration, drivers and teams will have a new tire to figure out Sunday in the season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Goodyear, the exclusive tire supplier in NASCAR's three top series, brought a tire to Homestead with the same construction that will be used in 2004 -- a tire meant to wear considerably faster than the one that had been in use this season.

The softer tire will be combined with a NASCAR rule change in 2004, chopping three-quarters of an inch off the rear spoilers of all the cars, thereby putting considerably less downforce on the rear tires.

The changes make it less likely crew chiefs will rely on tire strategy for track position.

Former series champion Bobby Labonte is one driver pleased with the change.

"We've got a lot of grip and more banking now than ever," said Labonte, referring to the change from a nearly flat track at Homestead to an oval with 20-degree banking.

"It looks like we've had some falloff in the speeds after a few laps," the former champion added. "If you run the first lap that's fastest, that's good. But what I don't really care to do any more is run 50 laps at the same speed and then come in and get two tires and run 50 laps faster than you ran the first 50 laps.

"That isn't racing in my vocabulary."

Rookie Brian Vickers, the new Busch Series champion, also noticed the difference, even though he will be racing Sunday in only his fifth Cup event.

"I don't really know what the older tires were like, but these new tires seem to fall off a little bit," Vickers said.

"I've been around long enough to know that a tire that falls off as it goes, you do have to change four tires and you have to conserve. It just puts it more back in the hands of the driver and the crew."