Goodyear plans to produce an entirely new line of tires for the 2004 season, company officials revealed Tuesday, in response to NASCAR’s trim of the rear spoilers on the cars. The intent of the new car spec is to reduce reliance on aerodynamic grip and increase the utility of mechanical grip, thus, in theory, putting the racing more in control of drivers and teams. NASCAR and Goodyear have worked closely on the project since early this year. There had been speculation that Goodyear could accommodate most of the change by shuffling some of its current tire codes, but Rick Campbell, Goodyear’s lead engineer in NASCAR, said the company will offer a clean sweep of the D-codes, which designate left- and right-side tires at each race. The changes are not major in most cases, Campbell said, with recompounding in most cases to produce a softer, grippier tire. For the past three seasons, in response to immense aerodynamic downforce developed by teams and manufacturers, Goodyear had hardened the tires until they had virtually no give-up at all. The change offered by NASCAR is a 3/4-inch reduction of the rear spoiler height. NASCAR estimates that the change could take away 75 to 100 pounds of rear downforce, which the teams likely will recover in time. NASCAR says it will consider further cuts. The main change for Goodyear will be in its left-side sets. That, Campbell said, will help with the loose feel in the cars as a result of diminished rear downforce. However, he added, “We will not carry over one single code into next year. This is a new construction package that’s been under development the last year or so,” Campbell explained. “It gives a driver a very progressive, very easy to drive kind of fee, not a knife-edge situation where you’re constantly jumping back and forth between loose and tight.” The first group of the new tires will be tested on the new surface at Homestead, Fla., next Tuesday and Wednesday, likely with teams not involved in the points race. If all goes as planned, the new tires will be used in the Homestead races Nov. 14-16.( Speed Channel )(10-23-2003)
