At least two teams that had issues with tires blistering Thursday are still scratching their heads a little bit on whether the tires will be good for Sunday, but NASCAR doesn’t anticipate major problems in the Daytona 500. “Thursday showed us a huge improvement [over earlier practices] and every practice since then, it keeps getting better,” NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby said Saturday after the final Cup practice. “To make a statement that all the blistering is totally gone, that would be false. “¦ It’s rescinded enough that I think we’re more than fine for the 500 on Sunday.” Darby said he didn’t see a need for a competition caution to check tire wear. A green-flag fuel run lasts about 41-44 laps at Daytona. Tire issues have cropped up for several teams during the week, and at least four teams had problems in the qualifying races Thursday. The temperatures Sunday should be about 10-15 degrees warmer than Thursday, which should result in slower speeds and less blistering. “Hotter temperatures means the driver has got to lift earlier,” Darby said. “It may relate into speed, but what it really means is they’re not charging the corner as hard, they’re not abusing everything as much. When the track starts to lose grip, you can’t.”(SceneDaily.com)(2-17-2008)
