Monday night on “Tony Stewart Live” on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio, hosts Stewart and Matt Yocum discussed the race this past Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway and the controversy over the performance of Goodyear’s racing tires. NASCAR President Mike Helton was a guest on the show and discussed the issue with Stewart. Stewart: “I’m not overreacting about Goodyear tires. This was my opinion about what we had. I’m the only driver that is in all this that has raced in Sprint car and Midget racing, Silver Crown racing, modifieds, super modifieds, the IRL with Indy cars and stock cars. I’m one of the few guys that has run enough of this stuff to actually know what it is like to have driven for Firestone, to have driven for Hoosier tires, you name it. We’ve even drove for Goodyear in some of these series but what we had yesterday at this level of competition was not acceptable. We’ve complained for years on numerous occasions behind closed doors to Goodyear and the problem doesn’t get solved. So maybe this was one of these cases where maybe finally something good will come out of this. And if it sounds like we’re whining about it it’s because we’re trying to get their attention. For Goodyear to say that they were satisfied with that, if they truly believe that they were satisfied with the way the race went yesterday I’m more disappointed than ever. And I can’t believe that NASCAR, at the end of the day, is truly, honestly, happy with the results. We invited Goodyear to come on [the show] and state their side of it two different times in the last 24 hours and they graciously declined. I think that basically covers what we’re dealing with here.” NASCAR President Mike Helton was a guest on last night’s show and discussed the tire issue with Stewart. NASCAR President Mike Helton: “Tony, we’re all well aware of your opinion and you’re right to express your opinion, albeit, I think maybe a little bit too strong in this case. What NASCAR asks for Goodyear to do this year as we completely run this new chassis from racetrack to racetrack is, first and foremost, bring a safe tire, a tire that is safe for the competitors to race on. And then bring one that is durable. And certainly bring one that is consistent so that everybody up and down pit road has the same tire as they compete in the events every weekend. I think what we did have in Atlanta was a tire that did not fail and we had a tire that was safe from that aspect and that it delivered in an environment that is a challenge right now because we’re going back to a lot of places in ’08 with a new chassis, new configurations underneath them by the crew chiefs and the engineers that are throwing challenges at Goodyear. And Goodyear all along the way has stepped up. They have been responsible. They have made a major commitment to put the right tires under NASCAR’s national series and we’re proud of our relationship with them. I think it is a little bit too much to blame whatever your opinion on Sunday was completely on Goodyear because we’re all in this thing together, every crew member up and down pit road, every car owner, every driver, every supplier like Goodyear in the sport that wants it to do good, wants their product to be right. And I think Goodyear has made a commitment to that for NASCAR and for the competitors. Now that doesn’t mean we’re going to be exactly right every weekend. Sometimes NASCAR does things wrong. We make mistakes and we go back and we learn from them and we fix them. Stewart: “You can understand from [NASCAR’s] standpoint, listening to Mike, what their objective is and what they feel like Goodyear’s objective is but I think they would feel totally different about it if we made every one of the high-ranking NASCAR officials ride in the right seat this past Sunday and feel what we felt. I think they might have a little different opinion about it.” “Tony Stewart Live” airs every Monday (8-10pm ET) exclusively on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio, channel 128. Monday’s show re-airs tonight at 11pm/et and Thursday at 10pm/et.(SIRIUS PR), see the full transcript of the tire segment on my Tires Sponsor News page.(3-13-2008)
