#42-Juan Pablo Montoya, #22-Kurt Busch, #16-Greg Biffle, #27-Paul Menard and #56-Martin Truex Jr. got a head start on preparations for the 2011 Brickyard 400 by participating in a Goodyear tire test May 3-4 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Menard said drivers and teams still gained plenty of important data and experience despite a high temperature of only 60, at least 20 degrees cooler than the probable Race Day temperature in July. “It was good,” Menard said. “Goodyear is trying a bunch of different things, and we hit on a couple things that will hopefully make a great race even better come July. It’s a nice, cool day, and we’ll come back in July and it’ll be really hot, so times will be a lot slower. You have to take that into account in what you do as a driver and kind of set up trends that we learn today and tomorrow that we’ll apply for July, for sure.”(IMS PR)(5-5-2011)
UPDATE: After two days of testing earlier this week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Goodyear has decided to use the same tread compound at this year’s Brickyard 400 that drivers raced on in 2010, Stu Grant, Goodyear’s general manager of worldwide racing, told Sporting News. Grant said the tire maker was opting for a known quantity in the tread compound, one that produced a problem-free race won by Jamie McMurray last year. In keeping with what Goodyear has done at many tracks this season, there will be a slight construction change to the tires supplied at Indy. The right-side tires will be slightly smaller, with an eye toward improved handling. The left sides will feature a mold shape change to preserve the stagger (the relationship to the right-side tires).(Sporting News)(5-8-2011)
