The future of option tires in the NASCAR Cup Series was discussed on the latest episode of the “Hauler Talk” podcast.
Sunday at Phoenix Raceway marked the third time (and the first this season) that Goodyear gave teams a choice between two tire compounds — primary and option — during a race.
NASCAR managing director of racing communications Mike Forde said there are no future option tire races scheduled, but discussions for using two compounds again could be “on the table” in future council meetings with team owners, drivers and manufacturers.
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“I think the opinions are split both within the walls of NASCAR and in the industry,” Forde said on the podcast. “Some people say this is pretty fun (and) pretty cool and adds a little bit of a story line. I thought FOX did a solid job reporting throughout the race which cars had those tires on, and it adds an extra dimension to the race.
“For those who don’t really want to do it moving forward, I think they feel like it might be a little bit gimmicky. But the reason we do it is to add a real-world data point, and we feel that the race conditions are so important to get that data.”
Regardless of whether the option tire is used again this season, it won’t return for the Nov. 2 championship race at Phoenix Raceway. A compound similar to the softer option that was used at Phoenix could be used in the season finale and other races this year.
Goodyear held a 12-hour tire test Monday at Phoenix with drivers Austin Dillon, Josh Berry and Tyler Reddick. NASCAR senior director of racing communications Amanda Ellis said 12 tire combinations were tested on both short and long runs, and that three combinations had emerged as promising.
In the podcast, Forde also addressed recent steering issues for teams in the Cup Series. Reddick lost power steering Sunday at Phoenix, and multiple Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing cars had problems at Daytona International Speedway.
That has raised questions about whether it’s a supply concern for the Next Gen car, which largely is assembled through parts built by single-source vendors.
“Part of the steering and the rack assembly, there are parts that are team sourced,” Forde said. “So when you hear about the Next Gen car, often you hear it’s a single-sourced car. There are still some parts — seats, rearview mirrors and parts of the steering assembly — that are team sourced. The problems that were seen in Daytona and in Phoenix were both from team-sourced parts. So the power steering line was the problem with (Reddick’s car). That’s not a single-source part. The hose failed, and there was a leak at the connector there that caused the power steering to go in and out. Same thing with the RFK (cars) at Daytona; they had power steering pumps that was an internal Roush issue. So we don’t believe that there is an epidemic per se. It is something that as soon as it happens, we do talk to the teams, find out what the problem is, address it. If there are areas to improve, we absolutely will.”
Forde also said NASCAR formed a committee focused solely on steering after the 2022 playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The committee still meets regularly but had no session planned after the issues at Daytona and Phoenix.
“We did get a group together involving members of NASCAR, representatives from all three OEMs, several team reps, and folks throughout the industry from the teams that had significant power steering and hydraulic experience and significant vehicle assembly experience,” Forde said. “We really got together (weekly after the Bristol 2022 race) to really beat up ‘OK, what do we want to see here, what do we need to do to fix it?’ We did a bunch of research on the seals and allowed some changes in that area and developed a new piston that addressed durability. There were a number of different changes that happened here.”
The guest on this week’s “Hauler Talk” is Xfinity Series technical director Jason Burdett.
Other topics covered during the fifth episode of “Hauler Talk,” which explores competition issues in NASCAR:
— The restart violation committed by Joey Logano at Phoenix Raceway and why the decision was black and white rather than a “ticky-tack” judgment call.
— Daniel Suárez’s criticism of the NASCAR driver approval process after the Trackhouse Racing driver crashed into Katherine Legge, who was making her Cup debut at Phoenix.
— The appeal process that resulted in a Daytona penalty to Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing being overturned. Forde explains why NASCAR has no subsequent plans to alter its rulebook (after modifying language and procedures following other appeals).
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Nate Ryan has written about NASCAR since 1996 while working at the San Bernardino Sun, Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA TODAY and for the past 10 years at NBC Sports Digital. He is a contributor to the new “Hauler Talk” show on the NASCAR Podcast Network. He also has covered various other motorsports, including the IndyCar and IMSA series.