Goodyear Tire and NASCAR officials confirmed there was tire blistering during Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout, but assured competitors the problem is correctable. “We saw some signs, up and down pit road, of excessive heat on the right front and right rear (tires) and some blistering,” Goodyear’s Rick Heinrich said Sunday before Daytona 500 qualifying at Daytona International Speedway. #38-David Gilliland spun and hit the wall late in the Shootout because of tire blistering. Other accidents were the result of mechanical issues or contact between cars, according to Goodyear engineers. The tire problem, said Sprint Cup Series director John Darby, was a “worse-case scenario” as far as racing conditions for the 70-lap sprint race, won by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Darby said Saturday night produced optimum speed conditions. The more speed, the more heat builds in the Goodyear racing tires. “It was nice, cool air, night time racing, maximum grip in the racetrack, all those things,” Darby said. Goodyear tested at DIS in September to find a competitive tire compound and design for the Daytona 500. Heinrich said Sprint Cup lap speeds have improved by more than one second since those fall test sessions. The blistering problem popped up during Preseason Thunder in January. Heinrich said Saturday’s fastest cars, including Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Earnhardt, had no issues. “Their tires were very clean,” Heinrich said. “They have looked really good.” Heinrich said Goodyear engineers are in the process of assisting the teams that showed blistering Saturday night. Darby said NASCAR will monitor the tire situation and doesn’t expect blistering issues for next weekend’s Daytona 500.(Daytona Beach News Journal)(2-11-2008) .
