Notebook: Tires -- not reinventing speedway -- might be Bristol's answer

Notebook: Tires -- not reinventing speedway -- might be Bristol's answer

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

March 24, 2012

FONTANA, Calif.—- Dale Earnhardt Jr. had some advice for Bruton Smith: talk to the drivers before firming up plans to reinvent Bristol Motor Speedway.

It might be a good idea for Smith to talk to Goodyear, too, given that changing the tires at Bristol might be a far less expensive alternative to changing the racetrack.

Track owner Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc., said he was embarrassed by the turnout for last Sunday's Sprint Cup race at the .533-mile track.

Consensus was that the grandstands, which can seat 160,000 fans, were roughly half-full.

Possible solutions could a include to a return to the one-groove racetrack that disappeared with a 2007 reconfiguration that added graduated banking and opened the outside lane. Side-by-side green-flag racing replaced the typical Bristol bump-and-run, which inevitably led to a rash of caution flags.

Tires with more grip and faster degradation might change the complexion of racing at Bristol, if cars with new tires become significantly faster than those on old rubber. But Goodyear, NASCAR's exclusive tire supplier walks a fine line in going to a softer compound.

If tires fail, Goodyear gets the blame for the blowouts.

"I think if we show up at Bristol with a tire that lays rubber down and is really soft, and it wears out… we need to get it back to where tires mean something," said Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford. "Nobody really ever comes in and takes four tires and blows the field anymore."

The bottom line is that, if tires degrade rapidly, you'll have cars running radically different speeds on the racetrack, and the mixture of speed and strategy should improve the action.

"I think Goodyear should really take a hard look at bringing a tire that falls off," Almirola said. "I know it's a tough road for them, because they don't want tires that blow out, because then they're the bad guys, and everybody points the finger at them.

"But if you have tires that fall off a second a lap, and you come in and get four tires, you're going to pass people, and I think that would make it more exciting. But Goodyear's in a tough spot. I would not want to have their job, because we're always going to push the limits of what they give us."

PENSKE ENGINE STATEMENT IS GOOD NEWS FOR DODGE

Roger Penske assertion that he will keep his engine shop open and production is good news for more than just the 70 employees who work there. It's also a potential boon for Dodge.

Penske recently announced a planned switch from Dodge to Ford next year but hasn't said whether he'll build his own Ford engines or purchase them elsewhere.

In the latter case, the logical supplier is Roush-Yates Engines, which provides excellent power to the Ford camp.

In St. Petersburg, Fla., for this season's IndyCar race, Penske told reporters Saturday, according to a story on USAToday.com, that he is open to building

Dodge engines as a supplier to other teams.

That's potential good news for teams that might be considering a move to Dodge next year. If an engine supplier is already in place, the transition becomes significantly easier.

Andrew Murstein of Richard Petty Motorsports said two weeks ago at Las Vegas that the team is open to discussions with manufacturers other than Ford. Scott

Gunderson of newly formed BK Racing, which currently runs Toyotas, told the NASCAR Wire Service on Saturday at Auto Club Speedway that the team will weigh its options vis a vis manufacturers and expects to make a decision at mid-season.