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Goodyear Solve Indy Tire Problem

Goodyear is close to restoring their reputation inside the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series after their rather disappointing performance at the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in late July. The race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was then interrupted by the safety car every 10 or 12 laps due to increased level of wear on cars' tires.

After more than two months of thorough investigation, the American tire manufacturer released a public announcement through racing boss Stu Grant explaining what really caused the tires to wear out so quickly.

'To make a long story short, what we found out was that the additional load and slip that the right rear tyre saw changed the particle size of the wear debris. Instead of seeing the rubbered-in racetrack like we saw in 2006 and '07 on that compound, the particle size was so much smaller. If you were here, you saw it, it was this dry, dusty wear, and consequently the track never did rubber in', explained Grant, according to Autosport News.

The Sprint Cup event at Talladega last week also saw a few blowouts during the race, but these were in no way connected to the same issue. In fact, Goodyear reassured NASCAR officials that the Indianapolis incident didn't happen due to a manufacturing problem but was strictly track-related.

During the testing session that was held this week at the Brickyard, all Sprint Cup cars were equipped with tires of similar compound as used in the Dover 400 two weeks ago. Nevertheless, as compared to the Indianapolis fiasco 2 months ago, drivers were now able to run up to 20 consecutive laps on the same tires. And the results were nothing but encouraging.

The majority of drivers praised their cars' improved maneuverability and high level of grip. Just to make sure we won't be witnessing another boring race at the Brickyard in 2009, a new tire test is scheduled for April next year.
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