Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 26 – Brickyard 400
NASCAR Xfinity Series – Race No. 25 – Indiana 250
Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2.5-mile oval) – Indianapolis, Ind.
Fast Facts for September 6-8, 2019
Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials
Set limits:
Cup: 3 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 9 sets for the race (8 race sets plus 1 set transferred from qualifying or practice);
Xfinity: 7 sets for the event
Tire Codes:
Left-side — D-4870;
Right-side — D-4878
Tire Circumference:
Left-side — 2,227 mm (87.68 in.);
Right-side — 2,241 mm (88.23 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 18 psi; Left Rear – 18 psi;
Right Front — 42 psi; Right Rear — 38 psi
Storyline – Much new for 2019 Brickyard 400: There are several new factors for this year’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – (1) the track has applied a sealer to the racing surface, (2) Goodyear has brought a different tire set-up than last year’s race and (3) Cup teams are running their higher downforce package. All tolled, racing conditions will be different at The Brickyard, and teams will have to adjust their set-ups from what has worked in the past.
“We held a test at Indianapolis in June, and we have aligned our tire set-up there with the other two-and-a-half-mile flat track in Pocono,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “In addition to our tire set-up, a lot has changed for this year’s Brickyard race. The Speedway sealed the track surface before the 500 in May, and that may change the grip level a bit. Also, teams must be mindful of in their set-ups at Indy, as we are racing under a higher downforce package than last year and their air pressure and suspension settings from the past may not work the same. We’ve seen it at several tracks this season already. There’s no question, the teams have made performance gains over the course of the season as they continue to work with the 2019 aero package. So, we’ll work with the teams to marry the latest tire data with their latest vehicle data to insure a robust set-up while optimizing overall performance.”
Notes – Cup, Xfinity cars on Pocono tire set-up at Indy: Teams in both the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series will run the same tire set-up at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week . . . this is the first time these teams have run either of these two tire codes at Indianapolis, though they did run this same tire combination at Pocono this season . . . compared to what was run at IMS last year, both this left- and right side tires feature the same tread compounds but have updated constructions . . . this tire set-up was confirmed for Indianapolis at a Goodyear test at the Speedway on June 4-5 . . . drivers participating in that test were Aric Almirola, William Byron and Denny Hamlin . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams will run inner liners in all four tire positions at Indianapolis . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
— Goodyear Racing —