No it's Time-Warner.Quote:
Originally Posted by tstran17_88
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No it's Time-Warner.Quote:
Originally Posted by tstran17_88
Goodyear have dropped the ball twice this year (atlanta). they must have known for awhile that this was gonna happen. Goodyear should be ashamed of themselves and NASCAR should be ashamed of themselves for letting it happen.
Like any disaster, there's not one single event that leads to the problem, but a series of events:
First is the IMS and diamond grinding, one can debate its merits or lack thereof, but it does it does have an effect on what happens at the track, and it is abrasive. However, it was done in 2005, so it was a known factor and 3 Brickyards, 3 Indys, and 2 F1's have been run in this configuration so while a factor, it didn't catch anybody by surprise.
Nascar then mandates the COT, which raises the center-of-gravity and completely changes the handling characteristics. Nascar did have Goodyear test, but in hindsight, it should have been more thorough, because the COT combined with a diamond ground track has led to other near disasters this year (Atlanta). I don't think Charlotte last year was a COT race, but the desire for a smooth track has led to some problems for Goodyear elsewhere also.
That leads to the drivers and teams themselves, although they are doing what just comes naturally, trying to go fast. Goodyear had a harder tire at the Indy test, but the drivers said they didn't like the way the car handled, so Goodyear said ok, we'll use the softer tire. They said, "It will probably rubber up with a full field of cars like last year, and it will be ok." That's probably the biggest mistake there, assuming the tire will perform the same as last year when the car had undergone massive changes to its handling characteristics. Hindsight is 20/20, but a full test with mandated full fuel runs should have perhaps been done to see if in fact the track would rubber up and things would be ok.
Back on the teams, they share some blame, but they are just trying to get an edge which is what they are supposed to do. They want the softer, grippier tire of course, and they also experiment with this new car trying to make it turn like the old car. The result has been the "crab" cars with the offset rear axles. It works great for turns, but can cause problems with tire wear on the straights, and Indy is all straights, so tires are not only wearing out in the turns, but also on the straights. Look at yesterday, the right rears bore the brunt of the abuse.
So there's lots of blame to go around, but blame is pretty much useless, folks just need to put their heads together and see where they go foward from here and how do they respond, although, if I was Nascar and Goodyear, I would be offering ticket holders another ticket to a future event, because it was a fiasco.
It's funny, I was really frustrated yesterday because my cable and internet had a 4 hour regional outage yesterday 40 laps into the race, my wife was out, and the two year old was napping, so I couldn't leave. (I briefly debated the merits of carrying a two and four year old to a sports bar, but didn't think it would be such a great idea :p : ) Reading the comments here, it was a blessing in disguise, not to have seen that race.
It matters because the diamond grinding is the issue, not the actual asphalt itself. It is the ridges that result from the diamond grinding process that make the track abrasive and those have been there continuously since the 2002 race. Goodyear should have been in no way surprised by this issue.Quote:
Originally Posted by call_me_andrew
Yes, the IndyCars go about 30-35 laps, in the 75 mile ball park, but those stops are necessitated by fuel load, not tires. It is not uncommon at all to see drivers run two stints on a set of tires to gain track position. I'm not denying that the IndyCars have an issue with marbles but that tends to happen at most tracks they run on. It is certainly not specific to Indy. The problem this year was more of the inexperienced guys thinking they could run up there and finding out too late that they couldn't.
I was not aware that there was a major construction difference btween the IndyCar and Cup tires although I guess I do recall that the Cup tires use an inner liner. With that, I'm really suprised by the explosive blow-out that Montoya and Kennseth had yesterday. Isn't the inner tire supposed to avoid issues like that?
Some of you are missing the real issue, the TRACK abrasive surface is the problem !!!
The track surface caused the tire issues that were so prevelent yesterday.
The Goodyear tires raced yesterday were NOT the problem !!!
I think it is time for Tony George to dig into his piggybank & resurface the track !
Yesterday's race with all of the tire issues were a major fiasco. :s
No doubt more "bad" races will likely follow @ the Brickyard if something isn't done to the track surface.
It is time to GRIND-UP the existing pavement & REPAVE the Brickyard again !!! http://www.motorsportforums.com/foru...ongue-anim.gif
NASCAR should demand the Brickyard's surface be corrected or else NASCAR will pull it's race !
WORD!!!!!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by RaceFanStan
I agree wholeheartedly.
Then why didn't the tires in the Indy 500 experience this problem?Quote:
Originally Posted by RaceFanStan
During the broadcast it sounded very much like they were saying it was a NASCAR mandated set-up, that does not allow the teams to properly adjust the car for these conditions.
And TG should tell them to go back to Daytona and learn how to set-up a car.Quote:
Originally Posted by RaceFanStan
So NASCAR runs at Indy under the same conditions for 6 years with no tire issues. In 2008 there is a new car with new rules and now all of a sudden they have tire issues.Quote:
Originally Posted by pdalbey
Whats the thing that changed? The track conditions? The tires? No. The car and the rules.
NASCAR created this issue, NASCAR should fix it.
Bridgestone/Firestone was the tire supplier, enough said :s mokin: they know how to actually produce a fully functional race tire.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rex Monaco
but the problem was part of the CoT, NASCAR forces the teams to follow the books and since they took the left side weight out of the car, the tires are just shot.
bring back the old car Nascar, it was still just as safe as this piece of garbage and still is a better racecar overall. this was not a race, it was a travesty, the fans should've stormed out of the track (well alot did as at the end of the race, there were alot of empty seats). This just doesn't happen in professional racing, to throw a comp caution every 12 laps and closing the pits for 2 laps while under green so teams can't short pit to get the lead. what a load of BS is that, its a race. There is only one race I know that teams pit every 12 laps and thats Le Mans, but its also a 7 mile road course, and the teams were double-triple stinting there Michelin Tires, so you can do the math on the miles on one set of tires.
Brian France, step down, Mike Helton, get the **** out, its time for some new people in charge. Goodyear, how are you still around