Goodyear to bring new tire compound for both NASCAR races at Michigan

Goodyear will provide new tire compounds for both the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series races this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. The new set-up for both series is the product of a tire test at the high-speed, 2-mile track on April 17-18. It will debut in Saturday's LTi Printing 250 (1:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM) for Xfinity cars and Sunday's FireKeepers Casino 400 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM) for the Monster Energy Series. RELATED: Full schedule for Michigan, Texas Goodyear officials said that the new compounds are designed to introduce more wear, placing a premium on tire management. The makeup of the tire is also designed to minimize heat build-up on one of the schedule's fastest tracks. "Michigan was paved not too many years ago and the track still has a lot of grip, so we have to be cognizant of that and the speeds the Cup cars are running when we make our tire recommendation," Greg Stucker, Goodyear's director of racing, said in a release provided by the tire maker. "We tested at Michigan this spring with the expressed intent of looking at right-side tire temperatures, and came away with a great compound that will wear more and run cooler. We also were able to update our left-side construction and go with a compound on that side of the car that will wear more as well." Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. were the drivers participating in the two-day test session last April. Goodyear Racing will also provide a new compound for left-side tires for Friday night's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The construction update brings the series' tire for Texas up to code with the rubber used at other speedways.