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Goodyear Confirms Tire Will Last at Indianapolis

Goodyear yesterday confirmed that tire wear will no longer become a problem for this year's Sprint Cup race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. NASCAR's sole tire manufacturer revealed they have taken care of this problem following the several tests conducted at the Brickyard by a number of Sprint Cup teams.

As surfaced in the media at the end of last year, the Goodyear tires failed to last at least half of stint during the initial testings at the IMS. The following months set a race against the clock to solve that issue, with plenty of Sprint Cup drivers being asked to test and provide the tire company with the necessary feedback to offer a viable compound for the July 26 scheduled event.

As announced by Goodyear's director of racing tires sales Greg Stucker during the course of yesterday, all tire-related problems have been solved with almost one month to the IMS race.

When we left Indianapolis last year, there was one thing we were very clear about and that was that we were going to get it right. I want everybody to be just as clear today that we're very confident we have done exactly that,” said Stucker.

It's been a very deliberate process over the last 11 months, a lot has taken place. It's involved not only the Goodyear racing division but the whole corporation. A lot of people have been involved doing a lot of different things in order to make sure we have a good recommendation for this year's race,” added the Goodyear official.

Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon has been one of the drivers who conducted some thorough testing on the Goodyear tires, being known as one of the most experienced drivers on the IMS track. Having won the Sprint Cup race at the Brickyard 4 times in the past, Gordon assured the fans tire wear will not become an issue next month.

“I'm 100 percent confident. I ran this tire as hard as I possibly could, put numerous laps on them. It's a dead issue. It might come down to fuel mileage. It might come down to a lot of different factors – fastest car, not the fastest car, track position, a double-file restart with 10 to go – but it's not going to come down to a 10-lap shootout on whose tires can last,” confirmed Gordon.

I can promise all the fans out there that, if they want to come to the Brickyard and see a great race and be confident that the tires are not going to be an issue, trust me. I hope that's enough for them. But they've got this solved, for sure,” added the Hendrick Motorsports driver.
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