Crew chiefs, drivers discuss tire used at Charlotte Motor Speedway
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams continue to wrestle with a 2015 rules package for intermediate tracks, one that was expected to enhance passing but thus far has provided mixed results.
It's early, one-third of the way through the 36-race schedule, and teams will no doubt make gains as the season wears on.
But it wasn't the rules package that concerned Rodney Childers following Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
"I'll say it in the nicest way possible, but they have completely ruined Charlotte Motor Speedway with changing tires," said Childers, crew chief of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet with defending series champion Kevin Harvick.
"You just can't race anybody and whoever was in front was just (staying) in front. You ride around 600 miles and can't pass a soul."
This year's tire of choice for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte included a right-side tire that featured the multi-zone technology first used two years ago at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The inside two inches was the same compound run at Texas this season while the outer portion was the same used at CMS last year. Goodyear officials held two Charlotte tests, last December and in March of this year, to determine the tire selection.
Tires using similar multi-zone technology have also been used at Richmond.
Childers said the multi-zone tire has adversely affected the competition at Richmond and Texas as well. "It's so aggravating," he said.
Harvick finished ninth Sunday night, the 11th top-10 of the year for the series points leader and winner of two races thus far this season. Carl Edwards (Joe Gibbs Racing) won Sunday's race thanks in part to better fuel mileage in his No. 19 Toyota.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished third-place, spoke about the multi-zone tires after the All-Star race on his weekly "The Dale Jr. Download" on Dirty Mo Radio.
"We've (run) it before at other tracks with sort of mixed results as far as how much we actually like the tire, how good the tire feels how good the tire drives," Earnhardt said. "I don't know … I didn't really like it that much this past race.
"(The tire) is just really hard on that inside edge and as you might have seen in the All-Star Race when a lot of us tried to run the top we just were so loose and spinning out and getting into the fence, having a lot of trouble with that. So that tire really took away the top groove, I felt. I couldn't get up there and make much time."
In spite of "mixed results at other tracks," Earnhardt said the tire does have at least one thing going for it.
"It is safer, so you can't complain about that," he said.
While there were nine lead changes in the first 100 laps of the 400-lap race, four came during an early competition caution and a later round of green-flag pit stops. The 22 lead changes for the race were the fewest (in a full 600-mile event) since 2004.
"I'm happy for Carl and I'm happy for Darian (Grubb, crew chief)," said Childers. "They did what they needed to do to win the race and that's the end of the story.
"More just disappointed in what we've got going on lately. We've got to work together and get the right tires on these things and make them where we can race each other. If you can't race, you're not going to put on a good show. That's just the way it is right now."
Grubb said the use of the multi-zone tire gives teams "a little bit more of a margin of durability."
"This used to be one of the tracks we'd come to and we'd be really nervous," he said, "especially if the rain came or something (and) the track got green. There's no way you can make a fuel run on the first set or two. You'd end up with cords on the outside and the inside of the tire."
The multi-zone tire has made inside wear a non-issue. Grubb said his team saw no signs of distress on his team's tires. "So I think they've got the combination right for durability," he said.
"It does give up a little bit of grip versus what the old tire did, but we'll pay that price to have some consistency and durability."
Speaking of tires …
Teams competing in this weekend's Camping World Truck, XFINITY and Sprint Cup Series races at Dover International Speedway will have a new left-side tire.
The code is the same as what was run at Texas (Sprint Cup and XFINITY) earlier this year. It was also used at Texas, Chicago, Darlington and Homestead last season.
Long race, few penalties
For only the fourth time this season, fewer than 20 penalties were handed down during a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race with 19 being doled out in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600.
The most common infractions were pitting before pit road was open (six) and excessive speed entering/exiting (four).