Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 30 – Gander Outdoors 400
NASCAR Xfinity Series — Race No. 29 – Bar Harbor 200
Dover International Speedway (1.0-mile oval) – Dover, Del.
Fast Facts for October 5-7, 2018
Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials
Set limits:
Cup: 3 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 9 sets for the race;
Xfinity: 6 sets for the event
Tire Codes:
Left-side — D-4728; Right-side — D-4742
Tire Circumference:
Left-side — 2,227 mm (87.68 in.);
Right-side — 2,250 mm (88.58 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 19 psi; Left Rear — 19 psi;
Right Front — 49 psi; Right Rear — 45 psi
Storyline – Many factors to consider when trying to tame the “Monster”: The list of considerations in coming up with a tire set-up for Dover International Speedway is a long one – high-banked, high-speed, high load and a concrete surface. Goodyear updated its tire recommendation for the “Monster Mile” one year ago, making this the third NASCAR weekend on these tire codes. This right-side tire has a construction that is designed specifically to handle the high speeds and loads generated, while its compound has been chosen to rubber-in the concrete surface quickly and to an appropriate level. This left-side tire is designed to give the cars grip with this relatively low downforce rules package.
“There are a lot of factors that come into play when designing and building a tire set-up for Dover,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “With 24 degrees of banking in the corners, Dover is an extremely fast track that generates a lot of load. Our right-side tire is designed to handle all that, and is also the tire that is charged with laying rubber on the concrete surface. What fans will notice is Dover’s white surface turning black with rubber as the weekend progresses. During the races, under caution when the cars are not at speed and actively laying rubber, the hot tires will actually pick up some of the rubber back off the track surface. Once the race goes back under the green flag, this right-side compound will quickly lay rubber down again.”
Notes – Cup, Xfinity cars return for third Dover race on this tire set-up: This is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that NASCAR Cup and Xfinity teams have run at Dover since last September . . . this is the only track at which these teams are scheduled to run either of these two tire codes . . . Dover is unique among NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length, in that inner liners are required on all four tire positions . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
— Goodyear Racing —