A tough balancing act between safety and racing (cont'd)

Basically, it was the repaving of Lowe's in 2006. The new surface is super smooth and generates lots of grip. That grip generates off heat in the tire that is otherwise scrubbed off in the form of the marbles that collect outside the racing line. But because the track is so smooth, it does not scrub heated rubber off the tire. So the heat stays in the tire.

This is where the choice of a hard compound for Lowe's makes all the difference.

"It generates less heat by the nature of the compound itself. It can stand holding that heat in a little more, so it won't blister or have a problem like a softer compound may if you run lap after lap after lap at those kinds of speeds," said Greg Stucker, director of race tire sales for Goodyear.

"Of course, heat is the enemy of the race tire. So that's what you have to combat," Stucker continued. "That's what we have to design for when we have a repaved racetrack. Add on to the fact that Charlotte is a very fast racetrack anyways, with its configuration, with its banking it's just a fast racetrack."

In winter testing at Lowe's with the same compounds used in October's race, the teams had obviously done their homework. Lap speeds were up and approaching the limits of safety for the track conditions. Plus, NASCAR increased the capacity of the fuel cell used at Lowe's from 13 gallons in 2006 to 18 gallons for 2007. Given all that, the decision was made at Goodyear to keep the hard D-4022 right-side tires, and switch back to the harder D-4020 left-side tires used in May 2006 for the tests and races at Lowe's this May.

"We've got to look at the whole field and make sure we've got a combination that's right for everyone. And like everybody else in NASCAR, we tend to error on the conservative side. Safety is the utmost, and we have to make sure we've got a good safe package for everyone," Stucker said.

So will this combination of compounds return to Charlotte in October? No decision has been made yet by Goodyear.

Safety and racing are in a perpetual battle with one another. Decisions that serve one are usually at odds with the other. For Goodyear to achieve that balance week-in and week-out, especially when lives are at stake, is testament to their commitment to NASCAR and motorsports.

Could Goodyear have developed a tire with better grip that also dealt with the heat as well as those used these last two weeks? Probably. But who knows how much it would have cost to do so? And what if, after testing, it proved to be somehow imperfect? Then we'd still be dealing with tire problems, just different ones. The way it is now, though, at least it's a problem drivers and teams should know how to deal with.

The opinions expressed are those solely of the writer