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WoO: Goodyear Tire Facts, Silver State Shootout, Las Vegas

30 October 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

GOODYEAR FAST FACTS FOR
THE PENNZOIL WORLD OF OUTLAWS' Z-MAX SILVER STATE SHOOTOUT
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, NEV. -- OCT. 31-NOV. 1, 2000

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 concludes the 2000 season with the two-night Z-Max Silver State Shootout at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This is the second trip for the Outlaws to Las Vegas. Jac Haudenschild won the "A" Feature on March 4, with Stevie Smith, Sammy Swindell and Joey Saldana finishing second, third and fourth on Goodyear Eagles.

* Most of the top 10 points positions have been decided, but the season-long battle between three-time WoO champion Sammy Swindell and two-time champion Mark Kinser for second in the points won't be decided until the checkered flag. After winning Saturday's "A" Feature at Devil's Bowl Speedway last weekend, Swindell has a 12-point advantage over Kinser.

* Goodyear is the winningest tire in Pennzoil World of Outlaws competition in 2000. Goodyear-equipped cars have collected 34 feature victories and 24 preliminary wins for a total of 58 wins heading into Las Vegas, compared to Hoosier's 34 wins (25/9) and American's two (1/1). All but four of Goodyear's wins have come since April, when the tire company first introduced new tires for 2000.

"This was basically a transition year for Goodyear, as we brought out new product in a variety of compounds, constructions and molds," says Paul Lauritzen, Goodyear operations manager, sprint/dirt. "We realized before the start of the season that the tires we made available were basically the same tires used since 1993. The chassis, wing and engine development had outpaced the tire development in the intervening years, plus we found ourselves embroiled in a tire war.

"While Goodyear can take pride in winning the Outlaws' tire crown for the 20th consecutive season, we are upset that a Goodyear-equipped car did not win the driver's championship," adds Lauritzen. "Steve Kinser had an unbelievable year to win the title, but the fact is that Goodyear hates to lose. We made great strides in our tire development program, releasing several tires throughout the season that proved to be major improvements over our previous product. The payoff came as Goodyear-equipped cars won the Amoco Knoxville Nationals (Mark Kinser), the King's Royal (Dale Blaney) and several more prestigious races.

"Our engineers and top teams are already working hard on our 2001 tire program. We are constantly evaluating all aspects of tire development and working with the drivers to determine where we can make improvements. The information we glean from the final few races will provide a baseline for our off-season testing, which starts at East Bay (Tampa, Fla.) next month."

Text provided by Craig Fischer

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