A Race of Competition Cautions Breeds Very Little Competition at Indy

[Bram Hume]

Angry fans, cautions every 11 laps for tires that were lasting about 6.

Drivers could only run their cars at about 80%.

The Indianapolis Speedway surface is a difficult surface to predict, hard to anticipate how the surface will take rubber and given the tire compound used today, the tire simply put out a dusty type of material and never filled in as it has in the past. Add that to the fact the CoT is a much harder car on right side tires, with its higher center of gravity; the mix was a perfect storm with disastrous results.

The usual M.O. at Indy is: complaints about tires happen on Friday, as the early practices take place, the tires begin to rubber the track surface, getting better on Saturday and it's usually a well seasoned surface by Sunday.

That wasn't the type of weekend that this one presented.

This Sunday became a race of technical expertise and technique in getting what was available.

Not sexy, not fast, and not really enjoyable for the fans.

Nobody wants to be in this position. I don't think the blame can rest with Goodyear entirely. They did an OK job. The only thing that keeps these cars on the track is four good tires and downforce. This car has about half of the downforce of the old car.

As I said, the perfect storm. Nobody had a complete chance. Hind sight is always 20-20.

"I'm sure we won't have that race again", Carl Edwards. A sentiment echoed by Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's director of competition.

[Bram Hume]

Marc.. when I read this article, I swear I could hear you laughing in the Philippines all the way from here.

[Marc]

Two years before a new tire could be utilized?

Why do I feel like I'm buried head high in snow when I'm sitting in 90 degree Philippine weather about now?

[Bram Hume]

We should be getting consultants fees here folks.....

From an AP article by Mike Harris, we learn that Goodyear is coming up with a larger tire for the CoT and they have been suggesting same since the new car's inception?... here are some quotes:

"We had some discussion about a larger tire ... several years ago with NASCAR when we started this whole discussion about the [new car],'' said Stu Grant, general manager of worldwide racing for Goodyear, the exclusive tire supplier for NASCAR's top three professional series.

"But, obviously, we've been working with the current size on the [new car]. This spring, we decided to ramp that [new] program up."

Grant said there would be several differences from the current tire.

"We are working on a larger contain-air volume, a bigger section width, taller tire, larger bead diameter," he said. "Right now, it's all modeling. We're trying to figure out what the right size would be."

Goodyear hopes the bigger tire would be a better match for the new car, but it will be two years before the new model would be available. Grant said NASCAR has been "totally supportive."

(ends)

I'll bet they have... Stu throws NASCAR under the bus a bit here, what say !?

You gotta love it when a plot against the emperor comes together....

[Charlie]

I agree completely. NASCAR doesn't make many mistakes but they did this time.

[Bram Hume]

Charlie, you and I are are schooled thinkers in that aspect, in my opinion. We are "measure twice, cut once" types. Learn by doing and by common sense.

And this did go against the grain in every aspect of that belief.

Do I think we can rest assured that it won't happen again? Only if the prep is done completely, I agree with you. The actions and results from here now need to be made available for all to see.

This is a real "don't tell me, show me what you did" thing now.

[Charlie]

Very well put Bram. The best recap of the situation that I have seen anywhere.

What I keep coming back to is the lack of preparation displayed by NASCAR and Goodyear in a sport that has, as its bedrock, preparation. I am very uncomfortable assuming that "it should be OK" or "hopefully, it will work out" in anything that I do. I'm not saying that I don't let things roll that way sometimes but I don't like it when I do.

Race teams don't EVER do that. Not good ones anyway, at any level. Yet that is exactly what NASCAR and Goodyear did after the lone tire test at Indy for the CoT, back in April. They said "well, it's coming apart here after ten laps, but so did this tire on the old car. So it should be OK for the race because it was for the old car." That is not the attitude of a championship race team and should not have been the attitude of the sanctioning body and its tire supplier.

[Bram Hume]

My final thoughts on Indianapolis, with a week or so of thinking with hindsight.

There is a literal plethora of cliches to go with the insight to be taken from the Brickyard 400. “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem”, or “there’s enough blame to go around for everyone to have some” and finally, “The buck stops here.”

The Indy surface has been a tire-eater for the last few years, Friday practices at the Brickyard ususally see no more than 5 or 6 laps before tires are worn completely out.


So for Indy to say they deserve a by and their responsibilty is nil is ludicrous. It is a factor that makes up the whole of the problem experienced.

NASCAR needing to revisit the CoT is not going to go un-noticed either. There are compromises in the design of this car that can be made.

The teams certainly know what those compromises are.

If it is NASCAR’s postion that this car is end to the race team’s burden, they should be willing to work to actually make it so and provide what is necessary.

All involved should be willing to work together and with every finger pointed elsewhere, there are three that point back from the same hand.

With that said, and given that IMS will not change to accomodate NASCAR’s car, there comes where the finger of fate should point.

Making simple the complexity involved, the ultimate responsibilty comes down to Goodyear.

Goodyear is charged by NASCAR with being only tire manufacturer. Others need not apply. That potential for disaster would be so costly, to the teams themselves, safety issues and danger of injury for the sake of proving (or not) any point is too great to be pursued.

Goodyear’s stance in all this should have been to demand from NASCAR that testing be done. They being solely responsible for with what these race cars are shod, there should be no question in performing tests by the sanction.

When a track is on schedule that has not been run with the new car, tests should be as long as needed. And year-to-year, as needed follow-ups should be a no-brainer.

I remember Dave Marcis doing countless hours of testing for the tire company to get a complete and true picture of what the company had for virtually any situation that could be encountered.

There are some drivers with knowledge of the CoT that are sitting on the sidelines and should be capable of performing such testing.

As humbling as that may be, getting off the sidelines in any capacity should be an indicator that racing is an all-encompassing sport and roles need to be played.

Goodyear has done a good job in carrying out NASCAR’s charge to them.

Two bad weekends (Atlanta and here) do not erase the other week-in , week-out successes.

I have no doubt that what was witnessed at the Brickyard 400 will not be seen again. And the fans that were in attendance will think a bit harder about shelling out the ticket bucks for next year.

Simply apologising and assuring as an act of contrition will not be enough.

The proof will be in the actions. Actions will be scrutinized.

This is the ultimate in 20/20 hindsight for eveybody involved to make good use of.

One cliche that is truth that will not be lost in all of this: “Those that ignore history are doomed to repeat it.”

[Clance' McClannahan]

Dick Ralstin is rolling in his grave.

[Revvin Jim G]

There have been reports (ESPN, the "take with a grain of salt" network) that Helton and Pemberton are even talking about a wider wheel. Terry Blount did bring up a very good point--that the old tire is not meant for the new car.

[Bram Hume]

Steve, I honestly believe there will be changes to both the tires and the car. I think a wider tire will be in order and some changes to the downforce component of the CoT body will be explored.