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Goodyear defends the performance of its tires. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) ยป More Photos
After being savagely ripped by Tony Stewart after Sunday’s Kobalt 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and roundly criticized by other drivers as well, Goodyear on Monday defended the performance of its tires.
Stewart brutally ripped the tire maker during his live interview following his second-place finish in the Sprint Cup race. “That was the most pathetic racing tire that I’ve ever been on in my professional career,” Stewart said on pit road at AMS Sunday. “They (Goodyear) exited out of Formula One. They exited out of IRL. They exited out of World of Outlaws and there is a reason for that. Goodyear can’t build a tire that is worth a crap. If I were Goodyear, I would be really embarrassed about what they brought here. I guarantee you Hoosier or Firestone or somebody can come in and do a lot better job than what they are doing right now.”
But Stewart was just getting warmed up. “They (Goodyear) don’t have the technology and the people that are smart enough to build a tire. This was pathetic today,” he said. “It is just a shame that the teams work so hard and spend so much money to compete and then it is all dictated by a tire company that is building tires that aren’t worthy of a street car. The first thing I’m doing when I get home is dismounting anything that has got Goodyear’s on it and putting Firestone or something else on it so I feel a lot safer.”
Although Stewart was the angriest of the drivers, he was not alone in his sentiments.
“This was just a bad combination, this tire at this track,” said third-place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“I felt like I was going to crash every single lap,” added Jeff Gordon. “… This car, this tire, at this track was just terrible.”
On Monday, Goodyear issued a lengthy rebuttal.
“Based on Goodyear’s tire testing at Atlanta last August, October and December, we provided what we believed were the best possible products for the races this past weekend,”
“We believe that our engineering, research and tire development is second to none. We accept that drivers will have their own opinions about our tires. NASCAR president Mike Helton told us Monday that ‘NASCAR is very grateful for the commitment Goodyear has made on behalf of building a good and safe product for our competitors, including this past weekend at Atlanta. NASCAR stands by our relationship and is proud to have Goodyear as a partner.’
“Even though both Goodyear and NASCAR were satisfied with the tire’s performance in Atlanta, if the drivers are not happy, then Goodyear’s not happy. Now that we know how this tire combination performed, we’ll go back and retest for the fall race. We have the same goal as the drivers and NASCAR: to put the safest, best performing tires on these cars.
“There will be many instances this year when the new car is on a particular track for the first time, as was the case in Atlanta. That makes it tougher than usual to get a read on how the tires will perform. But if there is ever any doubt about the recommendation, we will always err on the conservative side.
“Finally, we would like to correct an erroneous comment made by Tony Stewart. Goodyear decided to leave other racing series only because of the escalating costs of competition in those series. At least one other tiremaker has done the same. For Goodyear, the enormous investment required to compete in those other forms of racing far outweighed the benefits derived from our participation. We see tremendous benefits in our 54-year relationship with NASCAR as the organization’s longest continuing supplier. We remain fully committed to, and are proud of, our relationship with NASCAR,” Goodyear’s statement concluded.
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