Published: March 11, 2008 11:22 pm            

de la BASTIDE: It's a blow out for Goodyear

Drivers complain; where is Hoosier Tire when we need it?

Over the past few years there have been several constants when it comes to NASCAR racing, one seems to be yearly complaints by drivers and teams about the tires offered by Goodyear.

Since 1989, Goodyear has enjoyed a monopoly when it comes to supplying tires for Sprint Cup competition. In recent years, drivers have complained about excessive wear at certain tracks resulting in blow outs and crashes and several times, teams have complained about a lack of grip.

Back in 1988 the Indiana-based Hoosier Tire started supplying tires to a small number of teams competing at the highest level of stock car racing. In fact, the entire starting field for the 1989 Daytona 500 used Hoosier Tire when there was a safety concern with Goodyear radial tires.

NASCAR decided to put an end to any tire war when it announced that each manufacturer had to bring enough tires at each event to supply all the teams. With only 18 employees at the time, Hoosier Tire was forced to end its relationship with the teams using its rubber.

The outcry about poorly designed tires for a certain track reached a crescendo following Sunday’s Kobolt Tools 500 at Atlanta. Former champion Tony Stewart said Goodyear can’t manufacture a decent tire; four-time champion Jeff Gordon complained about the lack of grip; Dale Earnhardt Jr. said it was a terrible race because drivers couldn’t compete side by side. Even race winner Kyle Busch proclaimed it was like driving on ice.

Aside from NASCAR drivers complaining about tires, have any Indy Racing League teams moaned about Firestone rubber? There are no complaints being voiced by ARCA teams, late model racers or open wheel teams about the Hoosier Tires they use.

The only complaint about tires aside from NASCAR was the disaster at the U.S. Grand Prix several years ago when Michelin brought a tire deemed unsafe for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

With a monopoly in NASCAR, Goodyear should be able to create a better tire that will allow for side by side racing without the threat of blow outs punching holes in the competition.

A lot of pundits are writing about the renewal of NASCAR this season, but in my opinion the year is not off to an exciting start. Aside from the Daytona 500, the other three races have been sleepers. Busch won at Atlanta by over two seconds and prior to that, Carl Edwards had built up a seven-second lead before a mechanical failure.

The California race finished under caution and the Las Vegas finish was saved by a green-white checker finish that bunched up the field at the end.

The Craftsman Truck Series has seen a marked decline in the number of entries, with less than full fields in two races and the Nationwide Series had just enough entries at Atlanta.

With the economy rapidly sliding toward a recession, the number of teams competing in the Truck and Nationwide series will continue to decline.

Other racing news

There was good news last week out of Nashville when the Tennessee State Fair Board announced it was extending for two years the contract for the promoters at the Music City Motorplex to continue through 2009.

There was a concern that racing on the half-mile oval might come to an end, which would have shuttered the historic track after 50 years of racing. Racing kicks off at the Music City Motorplex on March 29 with a 150-lap battle for the Champion Racing Association late models.

• The Formula One season kicks off this weekend in Australia. It is hard to imagine that Lewis Hamilton, driving for the McClaren-Mercedes team, will not win the championship after getting close in his rookie season. The Ferrari team will again be Hamilton’s main competition.

Ken de la Bastide can be reached at (765) 454 -8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com

        

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