The first-ever NASCAR event on the Charlotte Motor Speedway combination road course and oval layout has both drivers and teams bracing for the unknown. But the newfangled circuit has also forced Goodyear Racing engineers to be quick on their winged feet.
The tiremaker’s motorsports division settled on a new road-course tire for the inaugural Monster Energy Series and Xfinity Series events this weekend. But the selection of a new tire construction and compound — much like the circuit itself — was the product of months of collaboration and development.
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“It’s a real balance and a real compromise to end up with the right tire package,” said Stu Grant, Goodyear’s general manager of global race tires. “The whole process was actually a really great process because there were so many stakeholders and there was such good communication between everybody. It was really a pleasure to be a part of it because it was so interesting.”
The new 2.28-mile course has evolved since the first on-track evaluation nearly a year ago. Since then, the infield section has been made less intricate with the removal of a tight switchback, the oval layout has been broken up by a pair of chicanes (one on the backstretch, the other near pit entrance), while other portions have been more clearly defined by barriers and curbing.
Goodyear’s choice of tire for the weekend events has evolved with the course configurations. Short-track tires and the Charlotte oval-track tire were both examined, but neither of those options performed particularly well for all sections of the circuit.
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Two tire tests, an organizational test and many simulations later, Goodyear’s selection became clearer after input from NASCAR competition officials, track representatives, drivers and teams. The Roval tire represents a happy medium somewhere between the rubber used at the Monster Energy Series’ existing road-racing circuits, falling between the higher-speed Watkins Glen International and the slower, more technical Sonoma Raceway.
“There’s no stagger difference, so it’s the same tire all the way around, a road-course construction and a road-course compound,” Grant said. “We ended up with a course configuration that we were able to treat as a road course. There’s not enough speed or time on the oval to demand a different type of tire construction closer to an oval race track. It was really a super-interesting process to go through that step-by-step change.”
Goodyear Racing invited a group of media members to a tour of its headquarters last month for a close-up view of the manufacturing process. Among the tires being built were Goodyear Eagles earmarked for Roval duty, with each tire getting personal treatment by specialists who affix the plies, belts and layers of the fresh rubber by hand before automation stepped in.
The personal touches include each tire’s mark with the signature of the lead technician, adding an extra layer of ownership for Goodyear’s engineers.
“We’ll bring a couple thousand tires each weekend, but in the grand scheme of things compared to consumer tires, these are really small batches,” Grant said. “For us, we need to be able to have the flexibility to be able to make small changes. We need to make small changes to make sure we provide the best tire at each race track, at each event, so we need the flexibility. We can’t afford the super-automation because you lose flexibility when you do that. It works for us. It allows us the freedom to be able to tailor a tire for a particular race track and race car.”
Flexibility may be at a premium this weekend, especially if the weather turns damp. Grant says Goodyear will be prepared with wet-weather tires, with Monster Energy Series teams allotted four sets for Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The treaded rain radials — denoted by white sidewall lettering instead of Goodyear’s traditional yellow — have been used five times in Xfinity Series events, but not yet in Monster Energy Series competition.
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Should rain tires be deployed for either event this weekend, it would mark their first appearance on portions of a high-banked oval. While such a sight might fuel an outcry for the use of wet-weather tires on speedways to avoid rain delays, Grant says the higher speeds and the likelihood of visibility trouble from spray would rule out rain radials on a true oval.
“We’ve done some tests at some ovals and the difference with this is you’re not running 180 miles per hour,” Grant said. “The way you enter the (Charlotte) oval from the infield is at a lot slower speed and then you’re back off the gas after you go through the chicane getting back into (oval turn) 3. The high-speed oval application, I don’t think that really applies. You’re going slow enough on the Charlotte oval part that we believe the rain tire will work in that application because the speed is down so much.”
