For Goodyear, the challenge of building tires for NASCAR is a diverse undertaking. Making safe and competitive tires as the exclusive supplier for NASCARs top three national series means developing tires for race tracks ranging from one-half mile to 2.66 miles long, on concrete and asphalt, and surfaces as rough as a cheese grater and as smooth as glass. This season, with the Camping World Truck Series adding the dirt track of Eldora Speedway to the schedule, the challenge got even bigger. The inaugural ‘Mudsummer Classic’ scheduled for Wednesday, July 24 at the half-mile track in Western Ohio, will be the first NASCAR national series race held on dirt in more than 40 years. But for Goodyear, who has been involved in a wide array of racing disciplines over the years, it was just a matter of dipping into the playbook and coming up with a solution. The new ‘Wrangler” tires that Goodyear will bring to Eldora for the Truck Series are based upon a dirt modified tire in its tire line. However, the NASCAR dirt tire has been widened to 11 inches (from 10 inches) to provide a larger contact patch with the track and give the trucks more grip. The two primary differences from the standard race tires run on ovals in NASCARs top three series is that the Eldora tire will be a bias ply tire and feature a tread pattern. The bias ply tire construction is not as stiff as the radial tire used on paved NASCAR ovals, therefore it is more compliant and more able to envelope the irregularities of a dirt surface. As far as the tread, the Eldora tire features Goodyears G23 pattern, which is a standard block pattern. It has grooves and biting edges to help evacuate dirt from underneath the tire, giving the trucks more grip. The tread compound itself is on the ‘softer” end of the spectrum, which will also help with grip. While the Eldora right-side tire will basically remain the same height as a NASCAR tire run on asphalt tracks, the left-side is a little shorter to build in more stagger, which will help the trucks turn better. For Goodyear, the tire development process started last October with a test on the 10-inch tire at Eldora with track owner and three-time Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, former Camping World Truck Series champion Austin Dillon, and his brother and current Truck Series contender Ty Dillon. In addition to seeing how the tread pattern evacuated the dirt and the compound put down rubber, it was important that there were no clearance issues which could lead to the tires rubbing against the truck or its suspension parts. Once Goodyear produced the 11-inch tire, Ty Dillon went back to 311 Speedway, a dirt track in Pine Hall, NC. When everything checked out with that test, Goodyear had its Eldora tire.(Goodyear PR)
