Goodyear brought two semi-trailers full of Pocono tires to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Faced with a potential for massive tire problems at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, NASCAR will throw a competition caution after 10 laps in today’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, and continue with additional mandatory cautions every 10-15 laps as needed if excessive tire wear continues.
And in a worst-case scenario, Goodyear has trucked in 800 tires that were scheduled to be used next week at Pocono Raceway. If the teams go through their allotted 10 sets of Indy tires, NASCAR will issue another caution-flag period, during which time all teams will be brought into the pits to replace their Indy tires with Pocono tires, NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said Sunday morning at IMS.
The drastic steps are a result of severe wear issues encountered earlier this weekend.
During practice Friday and Saturday for the race, teams reported right-side tires wearing out in as little as four to five laps. In years past, teams had similar problems early in practice, but the wear generally dissipated as practices wore on and rubber got put down on the track. Typically, by the time the first green-flag run was completed in the race, there would be enough rubber on the track that tires were no longer an issue.
This weekend’s problems have been far, far worse, however, exacerbated by NASCAR’s new-generation Sprint Cup race car, which is heavier than the car it replaced and puts substantially more wear on right-side tires. In addition, during practice this year, teams have been concerned about rubber from worn tires clogging radiator openings, causing potential overheating problems.
Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to
