The tire story began to develop in the Craftsman Truck race Friday night, when many tires showed signs of blistering and chunking. The problem, if anything, became more pronounced during the Busch race, which puzzled some of the veterans. It rained here [Atlanta Motor Speedway] into Friday afternoon, leaving a green track. Normally, however, a race and a few practice sessions lay rubber in the track, making the asphalt more accommodating to the tires. Not so Saturday, some said. “We’d wear the right rears to the cords, and 10 laps at the end of the racethe tire wear kept getting worse as the race went on, which is unusual because it usually gets better,” #17-Matt Kenseth said.” Equally odd was that Goodyear beefed up the right-side tires in Trucks and Busch. It also will run a different, presumably harder, set on the Cup side Sunday. NASCAR anticipated the trouble, allowing Busch teams to purchase an extra, seventh set of tires and ordering a caution around lap 35 so teams could have a look. Throughout the race, however, teams pulled off tires worn to the nylon, especially on the outside shoulders. Cup teams, which made final practice before the Busch race, made long runs and noticed serious wear as well. “I’m nervous about tomorrow,” #99-Carl Edwards said. “Our tires weren’t holding up as well on the Cup car as they were on the Busch car today.” Goodyear officials, who took much criticism for their Flintstone [Hard Tires….like rock] tires last week at Las Vegas, were ready with a defense Saturday, noting that Truck and Busch teams lost practice time to the rain Friday. “They has limited practice time, and a few didn’t get dialed in,” Goodyear rep Carole Swartz said after consulting with company engineers. “[Plus] the track was greener up high, and if they got high on the race track, the wear got higher.” It’s likely NASCAR will order some kind of stop for tire examination early in Sunday’s race.(source: Ford Racing)(3-18-2007)
