HAMPTON, Ga. -- It wasn't the only time Tony Stewart has been at odds with Goodyear over the tires it brought to a Sprint Cup race, but the rant he went on before, during and after last spring's event at Atlanta Motor Speedway was certainly one of his most passionate.

So now, one year later, with Goodyear having brought a new tire to run in this Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at AMS, does Stewart expect many of the same old problems? He hopes not, but didn't sound quite convinced one way or the other at the track on Friday.

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I think the track is getting to the point where it's fallen off worse than what the tires are.

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TONY STEWART

Stewart and several other Cup drivers also said that their greater concern these days is more specifically with the track at AMS, which they say makes it difficult for Goodyear to bring a tire that will offer them the better grip they seek.

"I think there are parts of it that are better," Stewart said of the new tire. "I think the track is getting to the point where it's fallen off worse than what the tires are. We don't have a ton of grip, but I don't know that there is any solution for that, really."

This will be Stewart's first Cup race at AMS as a car owner. The driver of his other car at Stewart-Haas Racing, Ryan Newman, said no one will really know how the tire will fare at the track until they get deep into Sunday's 325-lap event at the 1.54-mile oval.

"This track, if you look at the history and the way it ages, you just never know after another offseason and the rain we've had recently, and then the snow on top of it from last week, you just never know what it's going to be like," Newman said.

"Not to put all the emphasis on Goodyear, but I have no idea what it is going to be like. We will speak our piece afterward."

At least they weren't complaining too much after the practices leading up to Sunday's race. Jeff Burton said any difficulties with the tire at the Atlanta facility are just part of the territory.

"It's a split-personality race track," Burton said. "In qualifying, it's fast. In the race, it's very slick with very low grip." (more with Burton)

Denny Hamlin admitted after the first round of practices that he had not been able to get a handle on his car yet.

"The tire is extremely loose. We can't really get ahold of the tire here," Hamlin said. "They said it was going to have a whole lot more grip, but it's a lot slicker than I remember. We have to just work on getting it right here."

David Reutimann experienced the same problems.

"I think with the tire configuration right now, it just seems like our car is sliding around a lot. We need to get on the other side of it and make it not do that," Reutimann said.

Ed Clark, track president, is well aware of the challenges his track presents for the drivers. He said David Ragan came to him Friday and told him he "had wrecked about 10 times already, but just hadn't hit the wall yet."

Clark said he knows the surface is slick and that it has been difficult to get a Goodyear tire to match up efficiently with the characteristics of the new car that NASCAR began running full time on the Cup side last year.

"It's been 12 years since we've re-paved it, so maybe it's time," Clark said. "But every time I mention re-paving it to the drivers, they tell me not to do it. Maybe we'll wait until the dirt starts coming up through the asphalt."

Stewart readily admitted to being one of those drivers against having the place repaved.

"I hate re-paving tracks," Stewart said. "As soon as you re-pave it, it kills the racing. It's one lane and it takes three or four years before we can do anything. It puts us in an even worse position.

"I'd rather leave it the same. I don't know that you have to have a ton of grip here, but you want enough grip that when you get around each other, you're not scared to be running next to each other. That's the only thing that you're really concerned about."

Speeds
• Practice 1 | Practice 2 | Practice 3

Joe Menzer is the author of "The Great American Gamble: How the 1979 Daytona 500 Gave Birth to a NASCAR Nation." Click here to purchase.