October 6, 2008
By Allen Madding
On Friday the ARCA RE/MAX Series competed at Talladega in the ARCA RE/MAX 250. The event was plagued with blown tires and crashing cars that continually littered the track with debris and made for seven yellow flag sessions consuming 51 laps of the event. The ARCA RE/MAX Series competes on Hoosier tires, so NASCAR teams did not expect to see similar circumstances with the Goodyear racing tires utilized during Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Amp Energy Drink 500. Although Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had a right side tire failure during practice on Friday destroying his Amp Energy No. 88 Chevrolet, teams were not apprehensive about tire failures on Sunday.
Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Mountain Dew 250 did not hint of tire issues as Todd Bodine went to Victory Lane in his No. 30 Lumber Liquidator’s Toyota after receiving a huge push from series veteran Ron Hornaday, Jr. on the final turn of the frontstretch dogleg of the last lap.
But when things got underway on Sunday for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Amp Energy Drink 500, one had to rub their eyes to make sure the outside retaining wall said “Talladega” as the number of blown tires began to remind one of this year’s Brickyard 400 fiasco.
A right-side tire failure sent David Reutimann and the No. 44 Michael Waltrip Racing UPS Toyota swerving across the track on lap 53. Jeff Gordon swerved in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet to attempt to avoid a collision. Gordon’s Chevrolet broke traction and impacted the wall headfirst.
Mike Wallace was enjoying a strong run in the top-five driving Richard Childress Racing’s No. 33 Realtree Chevrolet when a right-rear tire failed. Wallace was fortunate enough to get the car under control and to the apron without setting of a multi-car wreck but lost significantly on the track for the unscheduled stop.
The big crash of the day came when Red Bull Racing driver Brian Vickers had a right side tire failure in his No. 83 Toyota. Vickers contacted Martin Truex, Jr.’s No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/ Tracker Chevrolet sending Truex into the wall with a hard impact. The crash would involve twelve cars before it had ended.
Then Denny Hamlin was leading on lap 99 in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 FedEx Toyota when a right front tire exploded sending him hard into the wall in the center of turns one and two. Hamlin required assistance exiting the car and getting into the ambulance for the trip to the infield care center. Hamlin was then transported to the University of Alabama Medical Center and kept overnight for further evaluation. He was released on Monday.
Goodyear technicians could be seen scurrying about pit road trying to determine the cause of the tire failures plaguing NASCAR’s top division. After declining several offers to discuss the tires issues, Rich Heinrich of Goodyear came on television to state that the tires used during the race were the same used at the Spring event at Talladega and that one tire that Goodyear analyzed was punctured from debris on the track.
Some teams speculated that the tolerances for fender to tire clearance are so tight that when cars bump-draft that the fenders of the car and the inner bracing might be making contact with the tires causing punctures. If the tolerances are too tight, the clearances may be fine for a car sitting stationary on a shop floor but not enough for the amount of movement of a car with the amount of downforce and flexing during bump-drafting for competition at Talladega and Daytona. NASCAR may need to take a look at adjusting the clearances within the fender wells of the new car to resolve these issues -- or stop the bump-drafting.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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