Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 30 – Drydene 400
NASCAR Xfinity Series — Race No. 29 – Use Your Melon Drive Sober 200
Dover International Speedway (1.0-mile oval) – Dover, Del.
Fast Facts for October 4-6, 2019
Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials
Set limits:
Cup: 3 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 10 sets for the race (9 race sets plus 1 set transferred from qualifying or practice);
Xfinity: 6 sets for the event
Tire Codes:
Left-side — D-4868;
Right-side — D-4872
Tire Circumference:
Left-side — 2,227 mm (87.68 in.);
Right-side — 2,251 mm (88.62 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 19 psi; Left Rear — 19 psi;
Right Front — 49 psi; Right Rear — 45 psi
Storyline – Right-fronts a focus right up front at Dover: Before this 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup season started, there were two tracks that posed the most concern from a tire perspective – Bristol Motor Speedway and Dover International Speedway. Those two combined the new, higher downforce package with the 750 horsepower engine on tracks that have steep banking, which creates higher loads, specifically on the right-front tire. Because of that, Goodyear will be working with teams to emphasize the importance of set-ups, including air pressures in the right-front. The tire maker performed additional simulation work for Dover to provide teams with the most current information on how air pressure will affect both performance and durability.
“When we went to Bristol for the second time in 2019, we saw exactly how many gains these teams have made with this package since the first race there in the spring, and we expect the same at Dover this week” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “Right-front durability at Dover is always on our radar because of the speeds and loads generated by these cars in the high-banked corners. Our recommended air pressure on the right-front is 49 psi, and we will be talking to teams on the lead-up to this race and all weekend to impress upon them the importance of that. We certainly understand that in the teams’ efforts to gain as much grip as possible, being aggressive on air pressures is one of the tools they use. To that end, we performed some additional simulation work based upon estimates of car performance now versus earlier in the year, and how that impacts both tire performance and durability. Our goal is to provide as much information as possible to make key set-up decisions, and tire pressures are an important part of those decisions.”
Notes – Cup, Xfinity cars return to Dover on spring tire set-up: Teams in both the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series will run the same tire set-up at Dover this weekend. . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that these teams ran at this track in May . . . Goodyear held a test (April 9) at Dover before the spring race . . . 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 —