Tony is unhappy with Goodyear

[smyler]

Tony made it clear before the race in Atlanta that he was unhappy with Goodyear.  He made it even clearer afterwards that he detests the product Goodyear is giving them.  We've talked about tires before and some have said it does not work for there to be multiple manufacturers.  So what is the solution?  Do you think Tony will be fined for speaking his mind?  Will any changes be forthcoming?

[Tonyfan14]

If Tony gets fined for his comments which did not contain any bad words I will stop watching NASCAR and would not blame Tony to just say screw this and go back to his dirt racing. I don't think it will come to that though. They may have a talk with Tony but they can't fine him...I think. LOL

As for his actual comments about Goodyear. If a guy finishes 2nd and still complains about the tire you know there is an issue. And it isen't like Tony is the only guy voicing his concern. Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Kyle Busch etc have all voiced there concern. Tony just does it in a way where you can't just sweep his comments under the rug. Goodyear needs to do something about this because there is clearly a big issue going on.   

[smyler]

I for one am not judging him or any of these guys for complaining about a safety issue like tires.  I'd be yelling too if I thought there was something that could be done but wasn't just because of $.

[Tonyfan14]

You look at Tony's wreck last weekend. He had no tire wear all weekend and race long. Zippy said they were not agressive on the camber or anything like that. Tony just hit the wall because he had a bad set of goodyears. That shouldn't happen.  I sometimes wish Tony would just shut up when he goes on his rants but in this case. Rant on Tony!!!!

[flamehothead]

I agree with both of you.

I've always said, If a team wants to run a Hoosier, Firestone, Bridgestone, or whatever then let em. I mean why not do what other series do and let the teams choose what type of tire they want to run. Give each team a Hard tire and a Soft tire and which ever one they choose is on them at the end of the race. I'm sure someone is going to say cost but if a team has to buy 5 sets of tires anyway it's not going to be anymore expensive for a hard or a soft tire.

I couldn't figure out why Goodyear brought the same tire for BOTH series when the cars are nothing alike. Goodyear brings a Hard tire and Lets say a Nationwide car has 30 pounds more downforce than the COT so the Nationwide car is going to stick alot better. Then you have the COT (30 pounds less DF) a car that just about every team has a problem getting a handle on anyway is expected to run the same hard tire with alot less downforce.

IMO teams are having enough trouble adapting to the COT without having Goodyear throw a wrench in the mix.

If Tony was the only one complaining about the Tires then I might look at it a little different but since there were quit  a few drivers who voiced their opinions that makes me believe there was a BIG problem.

Now I also think that these drivers are paid to DRIVE and if that means they have to muscle a car around a track for what feels like 1000 miles then so be it.

Theres a difference between having to muscle an ILL handling car (Which is Normal at times) and not being able to do anything about a loose car because the tires are junk.

I don't look for Stewart to get penalized nor do I look to see him on Hoosiers or Firestone anytime soon. Formula-1 and Nascar both have had their tire wars in the past but F-1 was the only one of the two who actually did anything with it.

[KurtBuschFan]

I don't see any kind of penalty coming for Stewart, but NASCAR will probably try to put a sweet spin on it and try to sweep it under the rug.  But we all know Tony's not gonna let it go.  I don't blame him at all for speaking up on an issue that involves driver safety.  Good for him for being to one to stand up and make it VERY clear!

[smyler]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=ap-nascar-tirecomplaints&prov=ap&type=lgns

He’s even gone after all-mighty NASCAR.

Now Goodyear is feeling his wrath.

On a day when nearly everyone complained about the quality of tires provided for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, no one was more biting in their criticism than Stewart.

“I can’t say it’s surprising,” Stewart said. “They got run out of Formula One. They got run out of CART, the IRL. They got run out of World of Outlaws sprint cars. They got run out of USAC divisions because they couldn’t keep up and make a quality enough product.”

[flamehothead]

I don't think Justin Fantozzi knows what he really wants to say and heres what I mean.

Here are two different interviews with J.Fantozzi (Goodyear Marketing Manager).

He made this statement on Friday.

Goodyear marketing manager Justin Fantozzi said Goodyear officials were not disappointed with their selection for Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500. "We are tremendously proud of the wear rates we saw here," Fantozzi said.

And this is the statement he made after the race on Sunday.

“We’re not stagnant. Things keep evolving. We’ll take this and learn from it,” said Justin Fantozzi, the marketing manager for Goodyear’s motorsports division. “We do the best job we can with the data we have. We bring the safest tire we know how to build.”

The part that got me was when he said, We'll take this and learn from it but two days earlier he was happy with the tire they brought to Atlanta. If your tremendously proud of the tire you brought then what do you need to learn from lol.

I think everybody worked hard to get the COT ready except for Goodyear. IMO the race car is different so why shouldn't the tire be different. Like they said in that story, The COT is bigger and it has a bulkier frame so they go and bring a tire that is supposed to work on the COT and the Nationwide car.

It's going to be interesting to see what comes out of all of this.

[Racergiant]

There was a year when the former Winston West series was transitioning from one brand to another and you were allowed to run either Hoosiers or Goodyears.

If I remember right - the teams that ran the Hoosiers finished alot better.  The Hoosiers had stiffer sidewalls. 

But - that series was running bias ply tires and not steel-belted tires like the Cup teams use.  The point of my post is - one tire brand had an advantage over the other...

[PuglieseVT]

He is the guy who is flying into a corner at nearly 200mph with his a$$ strapped to them. He has the right and obligation to say whatever he feels about them.

If NASCAR or Goodyear disagrees, they're more than welcome to take a few laps at speed and see if they feel the same way.

[HUDSON HORNET]

Does anybody remember in which South American country Good-Year racing tires are made?

Perhaps the expense and technology required to supply tires for the older Nationwide cars AND
the CoT is more than Good-Year can handle?

It was a shame to see Kyle Busch lose a race due to a tire problem, especially when he was running away
from the pack the way he was. Who could have caught him? If it wasn't due to debris cutting that tire down, I
bet Kyle feels the same about Good-Year as his team mate.

Good-Year has paid mega-bucks for the royalties to be the one and ONLY NASCAR approved tire.
NASCAR says they want "competition" on the track -- but NOT between manufacturers. To NASCAR,
that ain't fair. More than one tire allowed might give SOMEone an advantage. NASCAR wants ALL to be EQUAL.
NO advantages allowed.

Personally, I don't think it's the Good-Year tires that are the problem ---
nope!
It's where the teams stick the Good-Year decals that are causing the problems.
That's what I think.         

[Chris]

you know.. it's funny to me... seems everyone is missing a couple KEY points here.
First of all no one complained about the tires for the NNS race.... even though that is the race we SAW tire problems.
Yesterday we saw no (count that as ZERO) tire failures.  Seems to me like GoodYear didn't miss it's mark TOO bad.

GoodYears job is to bring a tire that is SAFE, and not have issues. 
That was EXACTLY what happened yesterday. 
Let me remind everyone of this incident,... Back BEFORE we had the new CoT to throw into the mix... we had a problem with hard tires at LOWES.  Back in those days Almost 100% of the people opinions here were the drivers should have enough sense to simply 'slow down'.  How is that different here.  I can't see where since we changed "cars" that should sway everyones opinions all of a sudden,.. it's the same set of circumstances.

It's MUCH better to have a tire that is HARD and WON'T blow out,... than to have a tire that is TOO SOFT and drivers have to worry about blistering, blowing out and crashing after 20 laps, etc.  It's MUCH better to error on the side of safety.

As far as these statements:
We are tremendously proud of the wear rates we saw here
We’re not stagnant. Things keep evolving. We’ll take this and learn from it,” said Justin Fantozzi, the marketing manager for Goodyear’s motorsports division. “We do the best job we can with the data we have. We bring the safest tire we know how to build.”
I can EASILY see how the guy can make BOTH statements and be in support of his product.
First off GoodYear DID have tremendous wear rates.  I watched my HotPass, and even teams that had extreeme handling problems told their drivers... "We have great tire wear... lots of rubber left at the end of a fuel run,.. wear is even all the way across, ... wear even on all four corners,.."  J Johnson had one of the worst handling cars all day,.. and I also heard them repeat it on National Fox broadcast.  So obviously GoodYear DID have GREAT wear rates.
As far as learning anything... I think this is the FIRST time GoodYear has RACED at ALL the 1-1/2 mile tracks,... and they EXPECT to look at the data and see what it shows.  Just like with the Cot,.. the first race for them is ALSO a learning experience.  After the Winter test tires were too soft, they opted to bring back a 'harder,.. softer' tire.

[Chris]

I've always said, If a team wants to run a Hoosier, Firestone, Bridgestone, or whatever then let em. I mean why not do what other series do and let the teams choose what type of tire they want to run. Give each team a Hard tire and a Soft tire and which ever one they choose is on them at the end of the race. I'm sure someone is going to say cost but if a team has to buy 5 sets of tires anyway it's not going to be anymore expensive for a hard or a soft tire.

I couldn't figure out why Goodyear brought the same tire for BOTH series when the cars are nothing alike. Goodyear brings a Hard tire and Lets say a Nationwide car has 30 pounds more downforce than the COT so the Nationwide car is going to stick alot better. Then you have the COT (30 pounds less DF) a car that just about every team has a problem getting a handle on anyway is expected to run the same hard tire with alot less downforce.

If Tony was the only one complaining about the Tires then I might look at it a little different but since there were quit  a few drivers who voiced their opinions that makes me believe there was a BIG problem.

Now I also think that these drivers are paid to DRIVE and if that means they have to muscle a car around a track for what feels like 1000 miles then so be it.

FHH... I'm not trashing your reply.. so don't take it that way... you just brought up some very good points all in one post,... and this was an easy way to cover them all... no offense intended dude. 
I forget who has been a fan for "how long"... SO for the new fans if nothing else,... I can answer the FIRST part of your question. 

I've always said, If a team wants to run a Hoosier, Firestone, Bridgestone, or whatever then let em

First of all you know we already "been there,.. done that".  It came at a great cost to SAFETY.  Each tire trying to outdo the other to be in victory lane.
Another problem is that EVERY Manufactor that is in the series has to bring enough tires for EVERY car for the weekend.  It's most probably some teams would run GoodYear,.. lets say some would run Hoosier,.. and just for good measure lets say we throw Firestone in the mix.  Even tho it would be a "mix" of tires running... It is "Required" that each manufactor of tires bring enough for the entire field.  We saw in the past where GoodYear had a problem with blistering, and pulled OUT of an event.  Hoosier had enough for the entire field, and the race carried on no problem.  Point being it gets expensive for ALL teams to go have test sessions at the tracks,.. who knows whose tires does what,.. NOT ENOUGH TIME on race weekend to run several different tires and test them out,.. and with limited test sessions in a race year,.. no way to learn that way either.  Those of us that have been around for 30+ years have saw this tire argument come and go,.. and it really is BEST to just have one make.

I mean why not do what other series do and let the teams choose what type of tire they want to run. Give each team a Hard tire and a Soft tire and which ever one they choose is on them at the end of the race

I don't know of ANY series that does this other than F1.  And an F1 race is really no more than a "Sprint" race compared to a 500 mile CUP race.  And in F1 they just have to run a "soft" set at some time during the race...  Also G forces, turning right and left, etc... all exert different forces on the tires that round and round, not to mention camber settings, etc.

I couldn't figure out why Goodyear brought the same tire for BOTH series when the cars are nothing alike.

Now I will agree at first glance this may seem confusing.  On the other hand, like the GoodYear guy said, better to error on the side of Safety.  The NNS DO have more downforce,.. so maybe that IS why they had tire problems in the NNS race.  Maybe the CUP tires were the "right" ones,.. and the NNS tires were a little too soft.  You get my point.
SOME of the guys thought the tires were GREAT... during parts of the race.  Earnhardt Jr drove off and left the ENTIRE field before the first 40 laps when the yellow first waved.  Obvioulsy HE had the car and tire combo figured out... Heck he lapped all but the top 20 cars in 40 laps.  Then Kyle Busch took over where he left off.  SO DID Carl Edwards.
Jr later got his car figured out again later in the day... I was watching HotPass and the adjustment they made to "fix" Jrs car... (get this now... it's HUGE) they added 5# of air pressure in one tire and 8# in the other.  That is a HUGE air pressure increase when you usually make 1/2# changes.
Tell ya something else.  That 5 and 8 pound change put them back to the ORIGINAL air pressures they had at the START of the race... so it looks like they had just adjusted themselves out of the ball park.
If they were that good and did that,... no DOUBT many of the other teams did also.
IMO I think we may see with this new CoT (especially on 1-1/2 mile tracks),... the teams may have to learn a WHOLE NEW way to make tire adjustments.  It'll be a learning process for a while the teams will have to go threw... Not so much blame on the tire.

I DO agree with one thing... these guys get paid HUGE sums of money to drive a race car... if they have to "wrestle" it around for what seems like 1000 miles.  Then so be it.  They all got the "same" car,.. race on the "same" tires,.. on the "same" track... so the best DRIVERS in THOSE conditions SHOULD win.  I wish it was like that EVERY week.
Look at yeaterday... Except for Elliott Sadler NO ONE hit the fence,.. lots of green flag pit stops, lots of race strategy,.. GREAT race.    aaaawww a throw back to the days of old.

[KurtBuschFan]

GoodYears job is to bring a tire that is SAFE, and not have issues. 
That was EXACTLY what happened yesterday. 

Sure there weren't cut tires?  But what about not being able to hold onto the car?  If you're so loose you're practically sideways (and you're not the only driver/team) then something is wrong.

[Tonyfan14]

Sure there weren't cut tires?  But what about not being able to hold onto the car?  If you're so loose you're practically sideways (and you're not the only driver/team) then something is wrong.

Jeff Gordon said that he felt he was going to wreck almost every lap. While we didn't have to worry about the tires blowing we had a new safety concern with these drivers just right on the edge all race long because of the tires. There has to be a happy medium out there somewhere.