Kansas presents challenge to Goodyear tires

Posted on October 5, 2013 by

Drivers have mixed reactions to Goodyear’s new duel-tread technology tires

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A defining point in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is likely to come Sunday where the rubber meets the racing surface at Kansas Speedway.

Tires have been the talk in the garage throughout the weekend. For the second time this season Goodyear has brought right-side tires featuring zone tread technology to a race track, bringing along with them a change in what the drivers have been feeling form the seat of the car.

On Labor Day weekend at Atlanta, Goodyear provided dual-tread right-side tires matched with the same left sides used at the speedway in 2012. The transition was as seamless as the extruded dual compound on the right-side tires.

Kansas presented a different challenge. Unlike Atlanta, which features old, abrasive asphalt, Kansas was repaved last year. And unlike Atlanta, Goodyear brought a left-side tire that provides more grip than the one used in April.

To compensate, the dual-tread right side Cup tires at Kansas feature a harder, more heat-resistant compound on the inner shoulder and the same compound on the outer nine inches that was used in April.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

View all articles

View all videos

View all photos

“Here at Kansas City, it’s not as abrasive as Atlanta,” NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton told the NASCAR Wire Service on Friday. “It’s a new pave, so that adds a degree of difficulty when you try to bring a tire that’s reliable enough.

“With this tire, with the zone tread, it helped the reliability on the right side enough that they were able to work on the left side and, I believe, give the car more overall grip totally. That’s the benefit of a tire like this.”

Though some have questioned changing the tire combination during the Chase, Pemberton said that was NASCAR’s plan all along. The success with the dual-tread right sides at Atlanta expanded the opportunity for use of the technology at Kansas.

Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman all participated in a tire test in mid-July.

“We knew for a long time that we were going to attempt to change the tire between the first and second race at Kansas,” Pemberton said. “I think the success of that tire (at Atlanta) played a role at Kansas. I’m not sure that it was the primary focus when the test was scheduled, but for sure, it opened up opportunity when the tire was as successful as it was in Atlanta.”

Driver reaction to the new tire combination has been mixed. Jeff Gordon liked the feel. Teammate Jimmie Johnson felt the combination was more edgy than its predecessor. Chase leader Matt Kenseth’s impression has been that the right-side tire actually provides less grip than the tire he rode to victory at Kansas in April.

“Everybody has a different opinion of what tires do and do not do for them,” Pemberton said. “Whenever you’re comfortable with a certain thing, change is hard to accept sometimes.

“You don’t know what to expect. That’s the beauty of the races that we run. You don’t know how the race track is affected through the summer heat, through the winter snows and cold. It’s inconsistent at best. From the spring race to the fall race, even with the same tire, you probably wouldn’t have the same results.”

MORE:

READ: Paint Scheme
Preview for Kansas

WATCH: Kansas
Preview Show

WATCH: Chase Chat:
Kyle Busch

READ: Tires change
along with technology

Posted on October 5, 2013 by

Austin Dillon takes over NASCAR Nationwide Series points lead from Sam Hornish Jr.

RELATED: Results | Standings | Owners’ standings

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Matt Kenseth may have won Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kansas Speedway, but Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski provided the most explosive fireworks in a wild race that featured 11 cautions in 200 laps.

Kenseth pulled away after a restart with five laps left and won going away, as Paul Menard edged Regan Smith for second on the final lap. Busch ran fourth after causing the final caution by sending Keselowski into the fence on Lap 188.

Justin Allgaier ran fifth, followed by Austin Dillon, who took the series lead from Sam Hornish Jr., who came home 17th. Dillon leads Hornish by eight points with four races left in the season.

The victory was Kenseth’s second of the season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, his first at the 1.5-mile speedway and the 28th of his career.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

View all articles

View all videos

View all photos

To Kenseth, the key to the win was his ability to clear the rest of the field after the final restart.

“I knew it was important to get going,” Kenseth said. “Regan gave me a little bit of a push there. The 31 (Allgaier) was pushing the 54 (Busch) as well. I had just enough speed to get around ‘em off (Turn) 2. I had ’em cleared off of 2, which was a big key, because I could use the whole track from there.”

Keselowski surged into the lead after a restart on Lap 151 but surrendered the top spot to Kenseth on Lap 166. Busch caught Keselowski a few laps later, and as the cars that were 1-2 in the owners’ championship standings battled for the second position, Kenseth’s lead expanded from 1.4 seconds to more than 2.5.

With Kenseth streaking away, Busch closed up on Keselowski’s rear bumper. Contact from Busch’s No. 54 Camry sent Keselowski’s No. 22 Ford spinning toward the infield grass and then back up the track rear-end-first into the outside wall.

“Really?!” Keselowski said incredulously on his radio as his car began to spin.

Keselowski climbed from his car, which was unable to restart, ran toward Busch’s pit and saluted his rivals’ crew, then headed full-speed toward the infield care center, as Busch and Kenseth rolled toward a five-lap shootout for the win.

But Kenseth pulled away after the restart as Busch was shuffled back to fifth, leaving Menard and Smith to settle second place between them on the final lap.

After the race, Keselowski expressed his displeasure and suggested he may exact retribution during the final seven Cup races. Busch is third in the Cup standings, contending for what would be his first championship. Keselowski, the reigning champion, missed the Chase this year.

“I got wrecked by a dirty driver,” Keselowski said. “There’s no other way of putting it. He’s cool with that. I have raced him really cool over the last year to be respectful to him and try to repair our relationship…

“He put me in the fence in Chicago in the Truck race, and the Nationwide races he has been pulling this crap. It is not going to last, I can tell you that. I feel bad for the guys next to me (indicating the No. 54 team) that are going to have to fix his stuff. That’s going to be part of racing and they are going to have to deal with it…

“Now we’ve got war.”

Busch took responsibility for the incident but dismissed it as a racing accident.

“It was hard racing,” Busch said. ”There were a lot of moments where maybe I felt a little crowded, but the contact there that ultimately ended it… I just got real tight off (Turn) 4. I’ve been battling tight underneath him and behind him and everything else, and finally I thought I had a run, and I tried to stay in the gas so I could get a run on him and get to his quarter and side-drafted him down the front straightaway.

“I got too tight, got inside his wake and just got too close to him and spun him out.”

As to Keselowski’s comments, Busch shot back: “Brad Keselowski knows what dirty drivers are because he’s done it plenty of times. But I have yet to wreck a person on purpose…I got wrecked for the Chase spot by Brad Keselowski (in 2012) and then had an opportunity to wreck him a few times throughout the Chase and didn’t.

“(I) let him and Jimmie Johnson battle it out on their own, and ultimately he won the deal. If I wanted to, I could have cost Brad Keselowski a championship, but I’m a bigger person than that.”

MORE: