NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 36 – 312 laps / 312 miles
NASCAR Xfinity Series – Race No. 33 – 200 laps / 200 miles
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series – Race No. 24 – 150 laps / 150 miles
Phoenix Raceway (1.0-mile oval) – Avondale, Ariz.
Fast Facts for November 6-8, 2020
Tire: Goodyear Eagle Intermediate Radials
Set limits:
Cup: 9 sets for the race;
Xfinity: 5 sets for the race;
Truck: 5 sets for the race
Tire Codes:
Left-side — D-4964;
Right-side — D-4966
Tire Circumference:
Left-side — 2,218 mm (87.32 in.);
Right-side — 2,244 mm (88.35 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 14 psi; Left Rear — 14 psi;
Right Front — 32 psi; Right Rear — 30 psi
Storyline – Tires a major part of Phoenix package: With the 2020 NASCAR Cup short track package – low downforce and high horsepower – tires play a major role. When the series visited Phoenix Raceway with this package at the beginning of the season, Goodyear was able to counter-balance the reduction in aerodynamic grip with additional mechanical grip through its tread compounds. And that, of course, also helps the Cup cars with 700 horsepower handle in the corners. Another aspect of this total package is that with lower downforce, tires tend to wear more because the cars are not stuck to the track aerodynamically. Wear is a good thing, in that it helps tires shed rubber and run cooler, in addition to bringing tire management and an element of strategy into the race.
“This package that the Cup cars run at Phoenix – the tires, horsepower and aero – really produced some great racing when we debuted it in March,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “The sport as a whole came together to come up with ideas to improve this short track rules package, and that enabled us at Goodyear to bring a tire that adds mechanical grip and wears a bit more. Those are two important factors, as the mechanical grip replaces the loss of aerodynamic grip with the lower downforce, while the ability for tires to wear is always a positive. The result is that it allows the tires to run cooler and at a more optimal level, at the same time making tire management come into play and producing more ‘comers’ and ‘goers’ over the course of a run, making for more passing and better racing for the fans.”
Notes – Cup, Xfinity return to Phoenix on same tire set-up: Teams in all three of NASCAR’s national series will run the same tire set-up at Phoenix this week . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that Cup and Xfinity Series teams ran at this track in March . . . in addition to Phoenix, NASCAR teams have run this same tire set-up at several tracks in 2020 – Gateway (Trucks only), New Hampshire (Cup only) and Richmond (all three series) . . . for the Trucks, this is a different tire set-up than they ran at Phoenix last season . . . compared to what the Trucks ran at this track last November, both this left-side and right-side tire feature compound changes designed to add grip and introduce wear . . . as on most NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length, teams will not run liners in their tires at Phoenix.
— Goodyear Racing —