AVONDALE, Ariz. — With limited changes to the car in the Next Gen era, the key focus for the sport to improve the racing has been tires that wear more.
“The drivers have asked us to take bigger risks, maybe get more uncomfortable with our tire recommendations,” Mark Keto, Goodyear senior project manager for NASCAR, told NBC Sports.
Sunday’s Cup championship race at Phoenix Raceway will see that trend continue with a new tire combination for this track. It provides an added challenge for title contenders Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson and William Byron.
Chase Briscoe will make his first appearance in the Cup Championship 4 on Sunday at Phoenix.
Hamlin said the new tire combination at this 1-mile oval makes Friday’s 50-minute practice session critical.
“We are all guessing a little bit on this new tire,” Hamlin said Thursday at Phoenix Raceway. “I don’t believe there’s any one of us four (title contenders) that feels confident we got it (with the tire) going into this weekend.
“It’s all going to be based off of a ton of assumptions. We have data to kind of pull to get to the answer we came to, but we’re not going to know until Friday. That’s going to be the true kind of test of are we close and can we get it there?”
Champions will be crowned in the top three national series this weekend.
The right side tire is similar to the softer option tire used at Phoenix in the spring. The new left side tire is softer than the left sides of the option tire earlier this year. This tire setup was most recently used at New Hampshire in the playoffs.
It has been a steady progression on Goodyear’s behalf to make the tires wear more, putting more control with the driver. Goodyear’s focus used to be to make a tire that would last an entire fuel run. Now, it’s about having a tire that has enough fall-off time lap time that it can be more advantageous to change tires instead of going a full fuel run on the same set.
Kyle Larson and William Byron will race for title for Hendrick Motorsports Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
William Byron, who is in the Championship 4 for a third consecutive season, said the changes have made a positive impact from a driving perspective.
“We’ve definitely improved the tire and that’s definitely changed the racing,” Byron said. “I think it’s kind of brought it back to classic NASCAR. What I mean by that is typically you’re taking four tires, typically you’re working on your balance and it seems like the guys who can do those things the best, typically, show up at the end.
“I think it’s just made the competition a little bit more authentic, probably, and just kind of made the racing more authentic.”
A winless streak last season led to offseason moves that have pushed Joe Gibbs’ organization forward.
More changes are coming. Short tracks will remain a focus for Goodyear heading into next season.
“We think we’ve found … some pretty big gains on the left side, so we want to keep moving down that path,” Keto said.
Goodyear plans to have a new left side tire for next year’s Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, Keto said. Goodyear also plans to run some development tires at an offseason NASCAR test at North Wilkesboro Speedway. That test will be the first for teams with the 750 horsepower package (from 670 horsepower) that will be used next season at ovals measuring less than 1.5 miles and at all road courses.
Keto mentioned that Goodyear plans to test at Iowa Speedway to further development with the left-side tires there. Goodyear also plans to return to Chicagoland Speedway, which will host its first Cup race next season since 2019.