INDY 400 RACE? NOPE. IT WAS JUST 17 DASHES.
Am I just getting forgetful, or has that never happened before. I mean the fiasco at the Indy raceway yesterday. What in the h*ll happened? Goodyear gave the drivers bio-degradable tires that turned to dust in around 10 to 12 laps. Sure, Indy is known for being a track that is hard on tires. But that was ridiculous. I've been watching the NASCAR Indy race since the very first one that Jeff Gordon won. I don't remember that kind of tire problem. To need Competition Caution after Competition Caution was horrible. It turned the Indy 400 into seventeen 23 1/2 mile dashes. To make it even worse, except for the last 7 laps, the drivers couldn't even race "all out" for fear of blowing a tire and crashing. Most of the drivers expressed remorse for what happened. Only one driver that I know of said he thought it was "great". That was Dale Jr., a driver I love and have immense respect for. He said he really enjoyed having a long series of dashes. Well, I don't know about the rest of you NASCAR fans, but I thought it sucked. It was supposed to be a 400, not a bunch of repetitive "Shoot Outs". The importance of the race was put on the pit crews, not on the drivers like it should be. How come the Indy Cars racing in The Indianapolis 500 don't have a problem with Firestone tires? They travel a lot faster. I do understand NASCAR officials intervening for the sake of safety, but WHY should they have to? They can pass the blame around all they want, but it was a Goodyear goof-up, and no one elses. They barely tested their tires on the "Car of Tomorrow". If the new car is that much harder on right side tires, then Goodyear should have compensated for it. It's obvious to me that if Goodyear is going to keep supplying tires, they will have to make harder tires or put on thicker treads. Whatever. And I think Firestone should be given a chance to see what they can come up with. Either that or advertise the race as the Allstate "Indy Day of Dashes", not the Allstate 400. 
Posted: 7/28/2008 11:41:09 AM
Comments:
Nope. You're wrong HoosierGuy2. I'm no fan of Helton, but he is neither a driver nor an engineer. Goodyear MUST take the 'lion's share' of the blame for the Indy NASCAR race. It is they that are the experts. It is they that have had 4 years to perfect an Indy tire. And most importantly, it is Goodyear that told Helton and NASCAR that they had the right tire for the race. Goodyear promised their tires would lay down rubber in the opening laps, and be fine for the rest of the race. Well, those garbage tires did lay down the rubber as promised, but it all blew away as dust. The Firestone All Season Radials on my car would have done better.
Posted On: 8/1/2008 3:25:31 AM
Yes, Goodyear needs to take the blunt of the outcry but this is strictly NASCAR"S fault! I have no problem with what NASCAR did on Sunday - it was obviously the best decision they could come up with on Saturday (except that maybe the field should of been frozen on competition yellows- guess they wanted those pit stops to look good for TV). But the real problem is that Mike Helton let this happen at all, bottom line NASCAR puts what races it wants on their schedule and they approve the show and all the pieces....NASCAR let Goodyear go with a 3 car test, NASCAR did not schedule a full test at IMS, NASCAR let GOODYEAR bring an inferior tire to track known to eat up tires since its 2004 grinding/paving. The problem is that Mike Helton has to take responsibility for this and NASCAR should take the blame - they took the money- the fans money- the sponsor money- the tire exclusive money- they got a cut of all it because we had faith they could provide a show! They did not and they degraded their product- let's see if it reflects in their future decisions.
Posted On: 7/28/2008 4:38:11 PM

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