Brickyard 400 Troubles?

[DanicaFan]

I think NASCAR should get rid of Goodyear and go to Firestone.

IndyCar doesnt have all those tire problems with Firestone. They are an excellent tire.

[muggle not]

I think NASCAR should get rid of Goodyear and go to Firestone.

IndyCar doesnt have all those tire problems with Firestone. They are an excellent tire.

A bicycle could also run well at Indy. The track isn't made for the heavy Nascar cars. Especially the COT.

[RaceFanStan]

The COT is more like stockcars of the 50's & 60's, bulky & not aero dependent ...
it makes me wonder if the bias-ply race tires like they used in the 50's & 60's would stand up to Indy

[Mark in Oshawa]

The COT is more like stockcars of the 50's & 60's, bulky & not aero dependent ...
it makes me wonder if the bias-ply race tires like they used in the 50's & 60's would stand up to Indy

Well they wont go back to the Bias ply's I suspect. This issue is compound related, not construction.

AS for them not being Aero dependent, explain why then the leader in clean air always says the car's handling is better up front. They are not as bad for aeropush as the twisted sister, but clean air being a factor still speaks to aero issues.

As for the idea above someone mentioned that the Firestones don't have an issue, I would point out that Firestone has been going to Indy for years, the modern Dallara is an easy car to design tires for since the tires are bigger and the car is a lot smaller and lower. The COT design is to make driving more driver dependent, and a side effect of this is the higher center of gravity that was mandated to give the car a harder and more twitchy nature. The downside is the tires are small compared to the weight and height of the car, and I think the techology of race tires is being pushed to the limit with this car at a flat fast track like Indy. You toss in the fact TG had the joint diamond ground, and it is like the old Darlington with higher speeds, less banking. IT is the worst possible scenario for a race tire on a car like this. I think Goodyear will give it a good shot, they have put the effort in this year, but I think unless the COT is given bigger tires with more tread, I really think the problem is unsolvable under the current rules.

I am not a tire engineer, but from what I have read and heard about last years debacle and the efforts being made this year, it has come down to the reality that no tire that size has been asked to do what this race tire is being asked to do. It may be unsolvable....

[RaceFanStan]

Maybe scrapping the outdated 15 inch wheels & tires would be a good idea ...
I think 17 inch wheels with lower sidewall tires could be a better solution.

(15 tires have a lot of sidewall flexing, low profile 17 inch tires could reduce that greatly.)

[call_me_andrew]

I think the new car has created this issue at Indy because of its higher CG. We didn't have this issue with the old car.

Actually, the old car did have this problem. But the old car would rubber in the track after a few practice sessions. After the track was last paved in 2005 it was diamand ground to remove all bumps. Diamand grinding left the track abrasive. IndyCars have had some issues with marbles. My softer rubber idea didn't appear to work so well. I think the best solution would be to apply a sealer to the track.

[Mark in Oshawa]

After the last Goodyear test, they had 11 cars there and they were running up to 30 laps plus. I guess they figured out the puzzle....