Goodyear will provide a familiar tire setup for NASCAR Cup Series teams in this weekend’s Chase race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will use the same tire configuration used in last season’s event, won by current points leader Denny Hamlin. The 240-lap, 300-mile event on the 1.25-mile oval will mark the first time this setup has been used this season, though the right-side tire was also in action last month at Iowa Speedway.
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“WWTR is a very unique track, which adds additional heat and stress on the tires,” said Rick Heinrich, Goodyear NASCAR product manager. “The Goodyear Racing Eagles we have chosen for the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend were raced here last season, so combined with data from Iowa in August, teams should have plenty of information to help with their setups.”
The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will take part in Saturday’s Nu Way 225 (7:30 p.m. ET, The CW, ESPN Unlimited, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), riding on the same combination that raced at Phoenix Raceway in March. That setup used the right-side tires from Gateway’s event last season.
This weekend will mark the second race in The Chase postseason for both series.
The tire allotments for each team competing this weekend:
Cup Series: 12 total sets — 9 new for the race, 2 for practice, 1 for qualifying, which transfers to the race.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: 5 total sets — 3 new for the race, 1 for practice, 1 for qualifying, which transfers to the race.