A Hoosier-Goodyear tire war brewing?

Another Goodyear-Hoosier tire war may be brewing behind the scenes, with reports that Hoosier engineers are testing new tires with Nextel Cup teams and trying to baseline those tires on some specific compounds and designs, to mimic the Goodyears.

One test was reported to have been held in the past week or so at Kentucky Motor Speedway, and the next test is reported to be scheduled for Nashville, both apparently with Dodge drivers. It is unclear which NASCAR Cup teams might be running the tests with Hoosier, and Hoosier's Bob Newton could not be reached for comment.

According to one source, the tests were approved by NASCAR executives, and some Nextel Cup teams were told it was okay to test on the Hoosiers, despite Goodyear's exclusive contract with NASCAR. According to that source, Hoosier will be designing three new types of tires, based on Goodyear designs, for intermediate tracks like Kentucky, Texas and Las Vegas, for short-tracks, and for Daytona. More at Winston Salem-Journal