Five teams will participate in a Goodyear tire test Sept. 18-19 at the newly repaved Talladega Superspeedway, Goodyear officials confirmed Saturday. None of the five drivers is in Chase contention, so no title contender will have an advantage when the Nextel Cup Series competes at the track Oct. 8. The five drivers who will participate will be #1-Martin Truex Jr., #12-Ryan Newman, #25-Brian Vickers, #32-Travis Kvapil and #40-David Stremme.(SceneDaily.com)(9-3-2006)
UPDATE: Rookie David Gilliland has never raced at Talladega Superspeedway, so he gratefully accepted an invitation to participate in the Sept. 19-20 Goodyear tire test at the newly paved track. The addition of the Robert Yates Racing driver will add a Ford to the group. Goodyear plans on bringing its Charlotte left-side tire to see if it will be able to stand the increased heat resulting from the new pavement. Goodyear plans on using the same tire for the Nextel Cup and Craftsman Truck Series events during the Oct. 7-8 weekend.(SceneDaily.com)(9-17-2006)
UPDATE 2: the test will be held Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006.(TSS PR)(9-20-2006)
UPDATE 3: Ryan Newman, Martin Truex Jr., David Stremme, Travis Kvapil, Dave Gilliland and Brian Vickers participated in the tire tests [at Talladega]. During testing, drivers are allowed to attach computer sensors to the cars that measure several factors, including suspension travel. Track General Manager Rick Humphrey said one team gave the new track surface a rousing stamp of approval. “They said when they got here they thought their equipment might not be working because it wasn’t recording any suspension travel,” he said. “They finally realized it was just because the track is so smooth. The bumps are gone.” The drivers said the new surface has not resulted in an increase in speeds, but they did find a dramatic decline in tire wear during tests. Several said the minimal tire wear could result in some major strategy changes during Talladega’s UAW-Ford 500 race. Where Talladega Superspeedway’s surface was notoriously rough on tires in the past, tire wear is minimal now and drivers will likely try to improve track position by just taking two tires or maybe no tires at all on some pit stops, drivers said.(Alabama Live), no speeds or incidents reported. See video/slideshow of the track and testing at RacingOne.(9-21-2006)
