Goodyear Pleased With Kansas Tire Test

This week’s Goodyear tire test at the newly repaved Kansas Speedway is now complete, with a Goodyear spokesman saying the company now has the information it needs to finalize a tire compound for the track’s NASCAR race weekend in October.  

Nine NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams participated in the test on Tuesday and Wednesday; the No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge with driver Brad Keselowski, the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford with Marcos Ambrose, the No. 17 Roush-Fenway Racing Ford with Matt Kenseth, the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driven by Joey Logano, the No. 27 Richard Childress Racing Chevy with Paul Menard, The No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevy with Juan Pablo Montoya, Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 55  Toyota with Mark Martin, the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevy with Regan Smith and the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy with Dale Earnhardt Jr.  

Earnhardt was uninjured in a crash early in Wednesday’s final session, but was forced to withdraw. 

Greg Stucker, Goodyear's Director of Race Tires, expressed happiness with the test, saying, "After two days of testing at Kansas, we saw what was expected of a newly repaved track -- smooth, black asphalt and a considerable amount of grip. It took about a half-day of running with the nine cars involved in the test, but the track took rubber nicely and a narrow groove developed. We expect that groove to widen out during the race weekend.  

“The recently-raced Michigan tire package was our 'control' for the test, with several other options in that compound range evaluated. That proved to be the correct choice based upon tire temperatures, wear and driver comments, and I'd say it is currently the leading candidate for our Kansas race tire."

NASCAR will return to Kansas for its Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series race weekend on October