CONCORD, N.C. — Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points leader Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Daniel Hemric, and Jamie McMurray are scheduled to take part in a Goodyear tire test Tuesday and Wednesday on the road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The course, an 18-turn layout which measures 2.4 miles, will be used for next October’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race. It will be the first road course configuration in the series’ 10-race playoffs since the format debuted in 2004.
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The track will continue to host the series’ annual All-Star race and Coca-Cola 600 in May on the 1.5-mile tri-oval.
Driver AJ Allmendinger tested the layout in January of this year. Chicanes have since been added on the backstretch prior to entering Turn 3 and on the frontstretch coming out of Turn 4.
Greg Stucker, Director of Race Tire Sales for Goodyear, said his group will begin the testing process with the tried and true — tires it currently uses at Watkins Glen International.
“We’ve got one fast road course on the circuit and that’s Watkins Glen,” he said. “We think we have a pretty good package there. Obviously we know what road course requirements are from a construction perspective. So that’s where we’ll start.
“And then depending on how much the chicane slows the cars down, then we’ll have some options to look at, some softer combinations; see if we can maybe go a little softer and add some grip.”
The Monster Energy Series currently competes on road courses at Sonoma and Watkins Glen while XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series have road course events at other venues as well. That gives Goodyear officials a good database from which to draw, Stucker said.
Stucker said Tuesday’s initial program would involve “sorting through the backstretch chicane,” as the final layout of that portion of the track has not been determined.
“There are about three different options to look at,” he said. “So actually the morning of the first day is going to be spent looking at those three different configurations and between NASCAR and the race track trying to figure out what’s the best option.
“That will take up a little bit of time; then we’ll go through and get our short runs down probably in the afternoon. As standard on the second day go through and do our longer runs and see how we look under those conditions.”
Stucker said standard rain tires will be produced as well in case of inclement weather.