NASCAR News: Goodyear to bring special soft tire to Bristol

Goodyear announced today it will utilize a softer right-side tire compound for the NASCAR Cup teams competing in next Saturday night’s crown jewel Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol, September 13.

Goodyear Senior Project Manager for NASCAR Mark Keto said the tire company hopes the specific tire they have selected leads to a tire-management component in the teams’ overall race strategy.

“Usually in the fall race, we see higher track temps than in the spring, and the cars put more rubber down,” Keto said. “We decided to make a right-side compound adjustment to try to get more treadwear on a rubbered-in race track.”

Keto said the softer tire could be a match for Bristol’s “finicky” concrete and the combined unpredictable weather conditions.

“It’s softer, but not softer in the sense that we’re trying to add a bunch of grip,” Keto explained. “It’s softer in the sense of we’re trying to get more tread wear. When we know the track takes rubber and is rubbered in, obviously, tire wear and tire fall off get reduced. We are trying to get more tread wear when the track has rubber on it.”

Event officials hope the change leads to even more competitive and exciting racing with additional tire fall-off, more racing strategy put into play and as a result more thrilling side-by-side on-track battles. Both drivers and fans absolutely loved the action from the 2024 Food City 500, which was won by Denny Hamlin in a classic throwback tire-management duel that featured 54 lead changes among 16 drivers.

“I think we have all chased after that one magical race that we had (in 2024) with really high tire wear and tried to recreate some of it,” said Alex Bowman, driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy. “It’s interesting how that racetrack creates really high tire wear at one point and then you come back the next day and don’t see any of it. It’s just weird.”

The last two races have been claimed by the speeding-bullet of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy of Kyle Larson, who led more than 400 laps in each race en route to taking the checkered flags. Larson will try for his third straight Bristol victory next Saturday, which only four drivers have accomplished in NASCAR history.

“Kyle Larson has been dominant of late, but this change from Goodyear may throw him a curveball next week,” said BMS President and General Manager Jerry Caldwell. “We will see how the softer tire Goodyear is bringing plays out and impacts the racing here.”

Many drivers, crew chiefs and even Goodyear officials were left scratching their collective heads after this spring’s Cup race, where there was tire fall off in practice and qualifying, but not on race day.

“At the spring race we thought it was going to be high wear and we all rode around on the bottom and went really slow for a while and then a couple of guys decided they were just gonna go fast to see what would happen and their tires never wore out,” Bowman said. “It’s been an interesting couple of years there trying to figure that out.”

Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 1 Chevy for Trackhouse Racing, said the teams saw firsthand how the weather impacted the situation at April’s Food City 500.

“We learned this spring that the weather is such a dictating thing,” said Chastain, currently 8th in the Playoff standings. “On Saturday we had tires shredding apart and then the weather warmed up on Sunday and we made really long runs, way longer than we thought we could on Saturday. The weather up and down definitely changes how this rubber is reacting with the concrete at Bristol. We will be paying very close attention to every degree of it next weekend, whether it is the ambient temperature or how the sun is hitting the track and the corresponding track temperatures.”

Goodyear said the race teams have asked them to be “aggressive” in their tire selections, especially at the short tracks and road courses.

“A softer tire is going to mean more wear,” said Bowman, who is 15th in the Playoff order after finishing 31st at Darlington. “We will wait and see what happens. We will probably be on cords in 15 to 20 laps during practice and then go much longer during the race. Who knows how much longer, though? It will be interesting to see how it works out. We all want high tire wear. The Next Gen car has made passing pretty difficult there.”

Recent Southern 500 winner at Darlington Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops machine for Joe Gibbs Racing, said the teams will have to take advantage of practice to see how the softer tire ultimately reacts and then make a call from there.

“Bristol has been such an odd racetrack,” Briscoe said. “From the tire standpoint, it seems like it’s just so temperature sensitive. If we go there and it’s warm, it’s one temperature for our tires the last 120 laps. If it’s cold, it lasts maybe 40 laps. It’s very odd just how that track has really changed over the course of the last two years. So with it being a different tire, it definitely throws a wrench into things.”

Chastain says at the end of the day he and all of the teams put their trust in Goodyear to make the right call.

“We have the best tire manufacturer in the world,” Chastain said. “I don’t think they want tire drama like we had a couple years ago. At the end of the day, it all has to go through the tire to get to the track. I trust the folks at Goodyear to do what they do best. This is their wheelhouse, pun intended. I trust them to bring a good tire that’s going to work for me and be reliable and also pay a penalty if I abuse it and it’s going to slow down later in the run. Whatever it is, we will learn from it. That’s why we have practice.”

Some of the most memorable moments in NASCAR history have taken place during the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on the super-challenging .533-mile high-banked concrete oval. NASCAR’s best drivers will go doorhandle to doorhandle – NASCAR Playoff style – and only the strongest will survive 500 laps of mayhem and chaos on the iconic short track.

In the NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race (Sept. 13, 7:30 p.m. USA Network and PRN Radio), you’ll get to see all of your favorite drivers racing hard to advance in the Playoffs. Top favorites include recent Night Race winners Hamlin and Larson, fan-favorites Chase Elliott, and Ryan Blaney, Darlington winner Briscoe as well as young guns William Byron, Tyler Reddick, and Christopher Bell. Four drivers will be eliminated from championship contention after the checkered flag falls.

Sparks are sure to fly in the Food City 300, as NASCAR Xfinity Series favorites Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Connor Zilisch, Jesse Love, Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed will be trying to get off to a great start in the Round of 12 Playoffs (Sept. 12, 7:30 p.m., The CW and PRN Radio).

In the Craftsman Truck Series, Daniel Hemric, Corey Heim, Rajah Caruth, defending winner Layne Riggs, spring Bristol winner Chandler Smith will be among the talented drivers battling for the victory Thursday night in the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics. The race is round two in the Round of 10 Playoffs (Sept. 11, 8 p.m., FS1 and PRN Radio). ARCA Menard Series rising stars will take on the challenging half-mile bullring in the Bush’s Beans 200 as part of a Thursday night doubleheader.