NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams representing Richard Childress Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Team Penske and Furniture Row Racing are scheduled to participate in a two-day Goodyear tire test Tuesday and Wednesday, April 19-20 at Pocono Raceway. Drivers expected to take part in the test are #78-Martin Truex Jr., #2-Brad Keselowski, #42-Kyle Larson and #31-Ryan Newman. ‘It’s kind of in line with what we’ve done at the other tests,’ Greg Stucker, director of race tire sales for Goodyear said Sunday morning at Bristol Motor Speedway. ‘Looking at the 2016 package for Pocono and looking to increase grip.’ With only three corners and each one drastically different, Pocono presents its own set of unique challenges both to teams and Goodyear. While teams often compared it to Indianapolis Motor Speedway where the series will visit later this summer, those similarities, such as from a tire-wear standpoint, had begun to lessen.(NASCAR)(4-19-2016)
UPDATE: Four Sprint Cup Series teams participated in a two-day Goodyear tire test Tuesday and Wednesday in preparation for June’s Axalta, ‘We Paint Winners’ 400 at Pocono Raceway. Drivers taking part at the Tricky Triangle were defending race winner Martin Truex Jr., the Chevrolet teams of Ryan Newman and Kyle Larson and Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski, who is also a former Cup winner at Pocono. Newman ran into trouble on Day 1 as his Richard Childress Racing team shipped up another car from their shop in Welcome, N.C. for the second day of testing. ‘We had a tire go down, not a tire problem,’ Newman said. ‘It was either cut something or had some kind of leak and failed a tire, so we had to get another car shipped up here last night, got here this morning and the guys switched it over. We’ve had a busy day-and-a-half of testing so far, but don’t have a lot to show for it.’ The Purdue University graduate wasn’t the only one who experienced issues Tuesday. Third-year Cup driver Kyle Larson had a close call in his #42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet while testing around the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway. ‘The car feels similar to how I raced here last time and I think we’ve actually improved on it some,’ Larson said. ‘We’ve had to work through a couple issues throughout both days, was having brake problems yesterday getting a long pedal after a few laps. We had a tire sensor go bad and go flat right-rear. ‘(Times Leader)
