WoO: Goodyear Tire fast facts, 'Wix Filters Southern Showdown'
25 May 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
DESCRIPTION: GOODYEAR EAGLE DIRT TRACK SPECIAL
Right front 26.5x8.0 - 15 Right rear 33.0x17.0 - 15
Left front 26.5x8.0 - 15 Left rear 4 sizes available for stagger
preference
NUMBER OF TIRES SUPPLIED: 400
RECOMMENDED COLD PRESSURE:
Right front 12 psi Right rear 8-10 psi
Left front 10 psi Left rear
4-6 psi
NOTES AND QUOTES:
The Pennzoil World of Outlaws series heads to to the heart of NASCAR country with the inaugural Wix Filters Southern Showdown at The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway next door to the 1.5-mile superspeedway hosting this weekend's NASCAR Winston Cup Series event. Both nights of racing can be seen on TNN starting at 10 p.m. EDT on Thursday and 9 p.m. EDT Friday.
Goodyear will bring more than 400 tires to Lowe's Motor Speedway for the Outlaws in several compounds and sizes. The track conditions can change several times during each event as the dirt dries out and the racing line changes. Leading teams will have as many as seven sets of tires mounted prior to the event and make snap decisions on tire selection based on their experience, personal laps and observing racers in other heats.
A new track is always a challenge for the drivers, who got their first look at The Dirt Track on May 22. "The biggest difference between tracks is the type of dirt on the track and the biggest difference in the dirt is the abrasiveness from one type to the next," said Paul Lauritzen, Goodyear's operations manager for sprint dirt racing. "A big part of a racer's tire selection process is personal experience and knowledge of how the track will change over the course of a night. When you don't have that track experience, like this weekend at Lowe's, it means Goodyear will spend a lot more time working with the racers, receiving their input and helping them make the proper tire selection."
After consultation with top Goodyear racers, Goodyear engineers and the race tire production plant in Santiago, Chile, have produced several development tires in recent weeks, conducting tire tests at Terre Haute, Ind., and Lernerville, Pa. The engineers are looking at several aspects of the racing tires, including construction, compounds and molds.
"We found several exciting developments in these test tires," said Lauritzen. "These results will require further testing at different types of tracks to confirm that the improvements work at the majority of the tracks."
Goodyear's current right rear tire made its debut at Knoxville and continues to gain acceptance. Mark Kinser won on the tire at Terre Haute and Sammy Swindell won at Lernerville. "Our next new right rear tire will depend on the results and feedback we receive on the current testing of the new development tires," Lauritzen added.
Goodyear is currently riding a hot streak in the World of Outlaws, having won nine of the past 14 preliminary and feature races. Goodyear racers won four of the five races on the World of Outlaws' schedule last week, with Sammy Swindell (Lernerville), Mark Kinser (Williams Grove prelim), Greg Hodnett (Hagerstown prelim) and Stevie Smith (Hagerstown feature) all finding the winner's circle. "We expect to improve on that percentage as new Goodyear developments become finished products," Lauritzen said.
Text Provided By: Craig Fischer
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