New NASCAR Tire in 2010?

Goodyear and NASCAR might be working together to phase in a new tire during the 2010 racing season, according to this report by Dustin Long in The Virginian-Pilot.

The proposed tire would be both taller and wider than the current model, perhaps by about two inches.  The purpose is to improve the racing by providing more grip and also increase the tire's durability.

Goodyear representative Greg Stucker, director of racing tire sales, hopes the tire would be a better fit for the new car.

“The new car definitely seems to stress tires differently with the additional right-side weight, it’s harder on those right sides. We would like to go taller and wider to kind of open up the durability envelope of the tire, make the tire a little bit more forgiving and a little less sensitive to maybe guys missing the setup or maybe being more aggressive on their setups.’’

Personally, I have mixed feelings about it.  First, I like the idea of increasing the durability because I feel that tire failures have been a major distraction in Cup races for the past few years, especially at tracks like Indianapolis and Atlanta.  And addressing this problem by bringing a harder compound seems to raise its own issues.

On the other hand, the wider tire idea concerns me a bit.  I suspect the move is to help counteract the lost downforce from the new car.  While I'm not a fan of the racing since moving to the new car, I do believe that there has been too much grip in recent years.  It doesn't seem like the drivers are even on the edge anymore.

The wider tire will also bring corner speeds up a bit, especially on the intermediate tracks like Atlanta and Charlotte.  I'm not sure if that would encourage more passing or not.  I also suspect, with the larger contact patch, that aerodynamics will play a slightly larger role than currently.

When it comes to NASCAR tires, I have yet to see anything as exciting as the bias ply tire back in the 80s and early 90s.  I don't know if it was the tire, or the low-downforce bodies, but the drivers were really able to sling the cars around at times and let it all hang out on the edge, even on the fast tracks like Talladega.  And if they got a little bit out of shape, the tire was forgiving enough to allow the driver to bring the car back.

What do you guys think?  What would you like to see in a stock car racing tire?