On Monday, Goodyear was peddling a feel-good story: “Goodyear tops Fortune magazine’s most-admired list. ” “I’m going home and taking everything that has Goodyears off and put Firestones on and feel a lot safer, ” Stewart said in an interview.
“It’s a shame these teams that work so hard are being dictated by a company incapable of building tires fit for a street car. ” Goodyear is standing by its tires. “We have 100-plus years of brand equity built up…. We feel good about our brand, our momentum and our credibility as a company. “
Goodyear will not use the same Atlanta tyre compound at Texas Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Samsung 500 on April 6, company officials announced on Tuesday. Several drivers complained after Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where the new car style competed for the first time. The tyres were called too hard and unsafe.
After hearing the complaints, TMS president Eddie Gossage contacted Goodyear, because his track is nearly identical to Atlanta, and announced: “The tyre they will use for the Samsung 500 will be effectively the same tyre they used in Texas last year, and those two races resulted in a last-lap pass in April and a side-by-side duel for the lead down to the finish in November. “
While the rubber compound is effectively the same as Goodyear used in Texas in 2007, the 2008 tyre will utilise a slightly different mould and construction to better suit the. new car.
“I have no problem with what Tony Stewart said. I’m a huge supporter of Goodyear and all that they have done over the years, but somebody needs to wake up right now and listen to these guys, ” said Jarrett, the former series champion who is retiring following Sunday’s race in Bristol, Tenn. “We’re talking about race drivers that have a huge amount of talent and very seldom complain about things like that. ”
“Failing that, we would encourage NASCAR to add practice time to the race weekend schedule to give teams a bit more time to get comfortable with this new car and tire combination, ” Gossage said. “We hope after the Atlanta race that they will see the wisdom behind our suggestion. “
Goodyear have hit back at the NASCAR drivers who complained about sub-standard tyres during Sunday’s Sprint Cup Kobalt Tools 500. Several big-name drivers were critical of the tyres used at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, most notably Dale Earnhardt Jr and Tony Stewart, who finished second to Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate Kyle Busch.
“That’s the most pathetic racing tyre I’ve ever been on in my racing career, ” Stewart said moments after climbing out of his car following the race.
Goodyear responded with a statement which read: “Based on Goodyear’s tyre testing at Atlanta last August, October and December, we provided what we believed were the best possible products for the races this past weekend.
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