The fourth race of the NASCAR Cup Series season is all set to go down at the Phoenix Raceway. It will be the first race of the season with multiple tire compounds and present fresh hurdles under high heat for the drivers. One of the biggest challenges will come in the form of tire wear. The race’s pole winner, William Byron, was asked about the same in a recent interview.
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Questioned how the high atmospheric temperature and the rubber from the Xfinity Series race will impact the tire wear in the Cup Series, he gave a detailed view of his thoughts. He said that the short track is beginning to age well. However, passing will still be tough since there is very little banking to hold on to.
He continued, “So if you want to be aggressive, it’s hard to be, but you’re seeing the apron start to become a bigger deal, and I just think the racetrack is starting to lose grip. So you’ll have more wear because of that.” Byron is not confident about himself, his car, and the track despite winning the pole position.
He said after qualifying, “I’m still shaking. I can’t believe – that did not feel like a good lap, but I just committed to it, and the grip was there.” Byron was the last driver to qualify and the only one to turn a lap under 27 seconds. He lamented that he just carried a ton of entry speed and that he kept missing the middle of the corners.
Byron’s thoughts on NASCAR’s option tires
Before qualifying, teams were given 45 minutes to practice with the prime and option tires that will be a part of the mix in the upcoming race. He was asked how the softer compound (option tires) fell off for him. He lauded the tire and pointed out that it fell off with heat before starting to slide around the track.
He detailed, “Obviously, more grip to fire off, so more pace on the short run. And then, you know, honestly, the progression throughout the run was exactly what you would want to see. So, I just had more grip, and then I felt personally like our car was pretty good on that tire.”
The prime tires, however, are a different case. He admitted that his team still had some work to do on them. He finished in third place during his last visit to the Phoenix Raceway. It was in the 2024 Championship 4 race. Hopefully, he will secure a better result this time around.
