#48-Jimmie Johnson, #78-Martin Truex Jr., #43-Aric Almirola and #23-J.J. Yeley are scheduled to take part in a Goodyear tire test beginning today at Kansas Speedway. The session concludes Tuesday. There is an open test for NASCAR Sprint Cup organizations Wednesday. Only one tire test remains this season after the Kansas test. Stewart-Haas Racing, Team Penske, JTG Daugherty and Joe Gibbs Racing will take part in a tire test Oct. 12-13 at Phoenix International Raceway. Each Cup organization is allowed to have one team at Wednesday’s open test. Scheduled to test that day are Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney, Johnson, Truex, Almirola, Yeley.(NBC Sports)(9-14-2015)
UPDATE: In anticipation of a new aerodynamic package for 2016, Goodyear is conducting a two-day tire test at Kansas Speedway starting on Monday. “We’re actually going to be doing a lot of work on low downforce,” Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of race tire sales told motorsport.com. “Obviously, we had two good races with that setup and we just want to get a leg up on that package at that race track, make sure our race setup (for 2015) is still good. “But the main focus is 2016 and low downforce and looking at the variations with the current package as well as going softer. We’re just going to shake it down. We think we’re fine with the current package, but the majority of the test will be low downforce.” During last year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR was insistent about not allowing Chase participants to test tracks in the final 10 races. But Stucker says with open testing and the end of the tire test it makes the process “equitable for everybody”.
Goodyear’s next test will be at Phoenix International Raceway on Oct. 12-13 and with an open date on the 14th. Teams currently scheduled to participate include the Nos. 41, 2, 47 and one of the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas. “Phoenix is an early race in 2016,” Stucker said. “We’re not sure which way we’ll go, but if you look at the Kentucky and Darlington races – and the discussions that we’ve had – we want to be prepared to go in (a low downforce) direction if that’s what NASCAR wants to do.”
One thing Stucker cautioned about was the level of tire fall off. Although Goodyear selected a softer compound for Darlington, the track has gained character since it was repaved in 2007. He believes the overall goal will not be simply choosing a softer tire but trying “to optimize the package for individual racetracks.”
“A lot of people talked a lot about tire fall off,” Stucker said. “I know a lot of people say that’s one of things we’re trying to accomplish but Darlington is starting to be the Darlington of old. There’s a lot of fall off on that surface. We saw a lot of fall off in the Xfinity race the night before and they were running the package we intended to run on the standard 2015 (Sprint Cup) package.
After last month’s tire test at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Goodyear will bring the same tire package to the season finale as it will run this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway and at Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 8. Goodyear is also looking at scheduling additional tire tests for Atlanta Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway depending on the direction NASCAR takes with the aero package.(Motorsport)(9-15-2015)
