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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
SPENCER: Hats Off To Goodyear
Goodyear appears to have made huge improvements with their new tire at all tracks this year, but no one is stepping up to pat them on the back...
Jimmy Spencer  |  Posted March 14, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Jimmy Spencer calls it like he sees it on SPEED. (Photo: SPEED)

We all but crucified and buried Goodyear last year after the Brickyard 400 and rightfully so, for the terrible tire issues the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams agonizingly suffered through at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But now that Goodyear appears to have made sizeable strides with their new tire at all tracks this year, no one is stepping up to pat them on the back for a job well done.

Four races into the season, we haven’t experienced any epidemic tire failures and the racing has improved over last year. However, I’ve seen some drivers starting to point their fingers at the tires in an attempt to make excuses for their subpar performance. From what we’ve seen this season, the tire is not to blame – these drivers and teams are.

Everyone is so quick to publicly criticize Goodyear but very slow to give them credit. Goodyear has done a great job this year and I applaud them for the hard work it took to get to this point. Last year’s Indy race was a total disaster but the tire manufacturer has really done their homework and shown up at the track each week with a good tire.

I question whether Mark Martin indeed had a tire failure at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend because in watching the replay, his tire didn’t blow out until after he hit the wall. I’m not sure what happened - he could have run over something that punctured the tire or something could have broken on the car before we heard the tire blow following contact with the wall. But it didn’t have the characteristics of a true tire failure.

The tire Goodyear took to Atlanta was a huge improvement over last year’s tire there that didn’t grip the track and caused cars to slide all over the place. I expect that improvement to continue each weekend and the tweaks Goodyear has made will be visible the more we race.

When there has been a little concern with the tires this year, such as at Daytona during the practice sessions leading up to the Daytona 500, the issues seemed to stem from the challenges this new car poses. The COT presents problems with the setup but also with building a competitive yet safe tire. Jeff Gordon had some issues at Daytona but had them remedied before the Daytona 500. Fickleness is a characteristic of this new car and Goodyear is diligently working to help the crews overcome these obstacles because it’s obvious NASCAR doesn’t plan any changes to the car.

What we don’t need is a tire war, which always lurks in the back of our minds when teams complain repeatedly about a certain tire manufacturer. I’ve lived and driven through a tire war and all it accomplishes is placing drivers in jeopardy of being seriously injured or killed. Back during the Goodyear/Hoosier tire war, we had numerous tire failures. I remember following Jeff Burton one day and him losing a tire and hitting the wall so hard I thought we’d lost him.

In a tire war, manufacturers become obsessed with making a tire faster than their competitor but at the sake of reliability and safety. When there is not another manufacturer in the picture, the tire company has time to make a good, safe tire that will last a fuel run. But in a tire war, tire manufacturers get more aggressive and try to stretch the number of laps their tire will last. However, the driver ends up with the short end of the stick – usually a tire failure that slams him into the wall.

Tire wars are not good for the sport and certainly not during these poor economic times because they will only cost the owners more money. We can’t allow that to happen and we can start by giving credit where credit is due to Goodyear. We have no problem screaming and hollering in situations like the Indy fiasco, so let’s play fair and give Goodyear a round of applause when they’re earned it.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Jimmy Spencer calls it like he sees it as an analyst on NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane on SPEED. He retired from driving with two NASCAR Sprint Cup, 12 NASCAR Nationwide and one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory, putting him in an elite group of drivers who have logged wins in all three of NASCAR’s premier divisions. In 478 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, Spencer amassed 28 top-five and 80 top-10 finishes. He won back-to-back NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championships in 1986 and 1987 on the heels of 15 victories, becoming the first driver ever to earn consecutive titles in the series. He earned the nickname “Mr. Excitement” for his flamboyant and aggressive driving style early in his racing career.
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