Goodyear Fast Facts — Martinsville - Speedway Digest

GOODYEAR TIRE NOTES

NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 8 – 400 laps / 210.4 miles
Martinsville Speedway (0.526-mile oval) – Martinsville, Va.
Fast Facts for April 6-7, 2024

Tire: Goodyear Eagle 18-inch Short Track Radials

Set limits: Cup: 1 set for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 9 sets for the race
(8 race sets plus 1 set transferred from qualifying)

Tire Codes: Left-side — D-5234; Right-side — D-5236

Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,249 mm (88.54 in.); Right-side — 2,278 mm (89.69 in.)

Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 10 psi; Left Rear — 12 psi;
Right Front — 22 psi; Right Rear — 22 psi

Storyline – Short track stretch continues at Martinsville: The NASCAR Cup short track package is on display for the second race in a row and third time in five weeks at Martinsville Speedway this weekend. Last November, Martinsville was the first track that Goodyear brought its tires with more tread gage (thickness) to match up with the series’ short track rules package, after testing the concept at Richmond Raceway last August. More gage in the tread helps keep some heat in the tires and contributes to more lap-time fall-off over the curse of a run. Martinsville is the shortest oval on the Cup circuit and teams are always challenged to find grip in the flat corners. For Goodyear, laying rubber in the concrete corners is also a goal, which also contributes to fall-off and creating a second racing groove. That process will be aided should the race day forecast of sunny skies and mid-60-degree temperatures holds up.
“We’ve had a good run on the short tracks recently, and we look for that to continue at Martinsville this weekend,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “We went to a short track tire package with more gage late last year, trying to get more fall-off. We now come back with the same tire teams ran at Martinsville in that race in early-November so they have somewhat of a notebook started. After running at Phoenix and Richmond over the past several weeks, teams have now had several races with the thicker gage, which has produced some good racing.”

Notes – Cup cars on fall ’23 tire set-up at Martinsville: Being on 18-inch bead diameter tires, NASCAR Cup Series teams will run a different tire set-up than those in the Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series at Martinsville this week . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires, that Cup teams ran at this track last November . . . Martinsville is the only track these teams will run either of these two tire codes . . . with this 18-inch tire, and its lower profile sidewall, NASCAR Cup cars do not run inner liners in any of their tires.

Wet Weather Tires – Goodyear bringing wet weather tires to Richmond: Goodyear will bring its 18-inch wet weather radial tires to Richmond for the Cup cars, should NASCAR determine that conditions warrant . . . Cup teams will have a maximum of 4 sets of wet weather tires for the event . . . NASCAR Cup teams just ran the wet weather tire at Richmond last weekend . . . in addition to the obvious difference of a tread pattern versus Goodyear’s dry weather “slick” tires, the “Goodyear” and “Eagle” lettering on the sidewalls of the wet weather tires is white, not the standard yellow.

GOODYEAR TIRE NOTES

NASCAR Xfinity Series – Race No. 7 – 250 laps / 131.5 miles
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series – Race No. 6 – 200 laps / 105.2 miles
Martinsville Speedway (0.526-mile oval) – Martinsville, Va.
Fast Facts for March 5-6, 2024

Tire: Goodyear Eagle 15-inch Short Track Radials

Set limits: Xfinity: 5 sets for the event;
Craftsman Truck: 5 sets for the event

Tire Codes: Left-side — D-6118; Right-side — D-6120

Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,218 mm (87.32 in.); Right-side — 2,244 mm (88.35 in.)

Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 10 psi; Left Rear — 10 psi;
Right Front — 23 psi; Right Rear — 22 psi

Notes –Xfinity, Trucks return to Martinsville on established tire set-up: Being on 15-inch bead diameter tires, NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series teams will run a different tire set-up than those in the Cup Series at Martinsville this week . . . Xfinity and Truck teams have run this tire set-up at Martinsville since the beginning of 2022 . . . these two Goodyear tire codes are unique to Martinsville . . . as on most NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length, Xfinity and Truck teams will not run liners in their tires at Martinsville.

Wet Weather Tires – White-lettered tires on hand at Martinsville: Goodyear will bring its 15-inch wet weather radials to Martinsville for use by Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series teams, should NASCAR decide that conditions warrant . . . Xfinity and Truck teams will each have 3 sets of wets available for the event . . . Xfinity teams last ran in wet conditions on the Indianapolis road course last August, and has not yet run in the wet on a short track . . . the Trucks have run this wet weather tire in competition at both the Martinsville and North Wilkesboro ovals last season . . . in addition to the obvious difference of a tread pattern versus Goodyear’s dry weather “slick” tires, the “Goodyear” and “Eagle” lettering on the sidewalls of the wet weather tires is white, not the standard yellow.

Goodyear Racing PR