GOODYEAR TIRE NOTES
NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 11 – 500 laps / 263 miles
Martinsville Speedway (0.526-mile oval) – Martinsville, Va.
Fast Facts for June 10, 2020
Tire: Goodyear Eagle Short Track Radials
Set limits: 10 sets for the race
Tire Codes:
Left-side — D-4948;
Right-side — D-4950
Tire Circumference:
Left-side — 2,221 mm (87.44 in.);
Right-side — 2,250 mm (88.58 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 10 psi; Left Rear — 10 psi;
Right Front — 23 psi; Right Rear — 22 psi
Storyline – Martinsville presents its own set of challenges: Coming off another short track race at Bristol Motor Speedway 10 days ago, Wednesday’s stop at the half-mile Martinsville Speedway presents one similar challenge and one that is quite different. Similar to Bristol, Martinsville’s corners are concrete, and the tread compounds Goodyear chooses to bring are specifically designed to lay rubber on that surface. What is different is the amount of banking – Martinsville is virtually flat while Bristol is steeply banked. As a result, the constructions of these two tire codes have been designed to optimize the acceleration, deceleration and handling needed on Martinsville’s flat, tight turns. Also of note, since this has always been scheduled to be the first night race at Martinsville, the Goodyear test at this track last summer that yielded this tire set-up was held partially under the track’s new lights.
“Moving the first Martinsville race later in the schedule will have an impact on tires and the track’s ability to take rubber,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “Originally scheduled for May and now being held in June, ambient temperatures will be warmer, which will help the cars’ ability to lay rubber in the concrete corners. Even though this race will be held at night, track temperatures should be warmer than what we ‘normally’ have for this event. In addition to the concrete corners, Martinsville’s lack of banking, long straightaways and tight turns combine for the other challenge teams face. Drivers are hard on the brakes entering the corners and hard on the gas exiting, so our constructions have to be very robust in handling those conditions.”
Notes – Goodyear debuts new tire set-up at Martinsville: These are two new tire codes that NASCAR Cup teams will run at Martinsville this Wednesday . . . compared to what was run at this track last season, this tire set-up features construction updates on both sides of the car and compound changes on both sides that will give the cars more grip and introduce more tire wear . . . this tire set-up came out of a test at Martinsville last July 30-31 . . . teams (drivers) participating in that test were Penske Racing (Ryan Blaney), Stewart-Haas Racing (Clint Bowyer) and Wood Brothers Racing (Paul Menard) . . . this is the only track at which NASCAR teams will run either of these two tire codes . . . as on most NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length, teams will not run inner liners in their tires at Martinsville.
— Goodyear Racing —