BROOKLYN, Mich. — Based on testing during successive weeks in July, Goodyear has opted to bring a slightly different tire for September’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.
Goodyear is treating the Bank of America Roval 400 as a typical road course race, although the track configuration that includes the majority of the banked oval (with chicanes) and an infield portion will be raced for the first time.
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“When we got to the organizational test (in July), we started seeing some heat that we didn’t really expect, to be quite honest with you,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of race tire sales. “I think it’s like anything — as you go from test to test to test, everybody gets a little faster.
“We saw enough signs in the first week of the organizational test that we decided to bring some of the controls (control tires) from our March test back and evaluate that as well, which we did in the second week (July 17).
“We felt like that was going to be a better choice for the race. The difference between the two is really a minor formulation change in the tread compound. It might have a little less grip, although when we did back-to-backs, nobody could really tell any difference. It’s just a slight change, back to where we were in March, and we felt like that was the right choice.”
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Goodyear will also bring rain tires to Charlotte — just in case. The rain tires are no different from those used at other road courses on the Cup circuit.