Goodyear has warned teams that increased speeds at Charlotte Motor Speedway will put a heavy emphasis on the right front tires in Saturday night’s race – a potentially key development for drivers trying to advance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. Stu Grant, general manager of worldwide racing for Goodyear, said Friday the tire manufacturer provided durability guidelines a day earlier for teams to use in their preparations. #41-Kurt Busch set the track record in Thursday qualifying with a lap at 198.771 mph. It broke #11-Denny Hamlin’s record of 195.624 set in 2013 and was the fastest lap ever recorded on a 1.5-mile track. Busch’s speed was also almost 4 mph faster than the lap #48-Jimmie Johnson turned to win the pole in May. Although the pace of Saturday night’s race will slow compared to qualifying speeds, Goodyear felt teams needed to be informed, particularly after championship contenders #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. and #2-Brad Keselowski both blew right front tires last week at Kansas and are in danger of being eliminated from the Chase. Keselowski’s tire went back to North Carolina from Kanas with Team Penske, and was received by Goodyear on Thursday for further analysis at its Akron, Ohio, facility. Goodyear does not have Earnhardt’s tire because Hendrick Motorsports was doing its own examination and had yet to ship it to Akron. Goodyear officials did look over both tires at Kansas, but Grant said ‘nothing jumped out at us.’ Damage appeared to be to the inside shoulder, belt-edge. In the past, Goodyear has found that teams were too aggressive with either their air pressure or camber settings, causing tire failures. Earnhardt crew chief Steve Letarte and Keselowski crew chief Paul Wolfe both told Goodyear their setups were not aggressive enough to cause tire failures.(Associated Press)(10-11-2014)
