“Pick Your Poison”: Joey Logano Details Tradeoff Between Tire Life & Pace Ahead of NASCAR Cup Race at Iowa

NASCAR’s visit to Iowa Speedway this weekend has left all drivers and teams witnessing multiple tire failures during several of the weekend’s sessions. Joey Logano recently chimed in on why the same has been a common occurrence during practice for the Cup Series as well as the main event for the Xfinity Series on Saturday.

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series champion seemed to have an idea why such failures are happening as the top tier of the sport makes its debut at the 7/8 mile-long venue. In conjunction with the partial repave of the surface of the track and the teams pushing the 18-inch Goodyear’s tire’s limits on the same, Logano believes drivers and crew members are fine-tuning what are specified tire pressures by the manufacturer.

He elaborated on how teams can also alter camber settings on the car to gain grip on the track while putting extra load on the tire risking failure and said, “It’s probably the teams being too aggressive. It’s kind of like it was when we first started with the Next Gen car and shoulders were blowing out.”

“Air pressure and camber and load through the tires seem like the piece that gets them, and there are some pretty good bumps on the straightaway that I’m sure are working the shoulder a fair amount.”

Problems for @CBellRacing exiting Turn 4! pic.twitter.com/po1JbrRdwK

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 14, 2024

 

Logano further touched on the possible trade-off the teams would have to make if they were to preserve their tires and added, “The fix is what I just said but the bad part is it makes your race car slower. So, pick your poison, I guess.”

Ross Chastain details his tire failure during NASCAR Cup practice

The Trackhouse Racing driver along with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell was one of the few to have tire failures during the practice session itself. Speaking on how he felt up until the point of failure in the car, the #1 driver said, “There’s no telling what happens. We went back out and made more laps on another set. I went out and ran my fastest lap, like, five laps later.”

Goodyear might be forced to enforce stricter tire pressure and camber guidelines going into the race on Sunday. With the Cup Series’ debut at the track meaning the teams finding the limits of what they can and cannot do with the tires at Iowa, fans can see an end to tire troubles if the venue was to return for next season.

The 2024 Iowa Corn 350 goes live on Sunday at 7:00 pm ET.