Given how the spring race at the Bristol Motor Speedway turned out, there was a level of concern from drivers going into Sunday’s playoff race. However, tire fall-off was not as extreme as it was and it panned out to be a rather normal race. The spring’s event received mixed reactions from fans and drivers but Goodyear might have hoped to get a similar level of tire fall-off again as it made the race quite interesting. That, however, does not just depend on the tire compound and Cliff Daniels believes that it would be a tall order to recreate that.
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Daniels won the Bristol Night Race with Kyle Larson who dominated most of the event. This kind of performance would have been unthinkable at the earlier race here. The veteran crew chief said that drivers faced a similar level of tire fall-off in a test session a couple of years ago at Dover. That day, the temperature was low which made the tire compound powder-like.
“I think it would be very hard to recreate the spring again because of the element of surprise,” he said in a media interaction. “I do think it’s a real thing at the concrete tracks. A lot of folks may not remember, there was a practice at Dover a year or two ago where it was a really cool day, and the race tire at Dover that weekend really looked like what the Bristol tire looked like in the spring.”
Kyle Larson crew chief Cliff Daniels gives his theory on why the tires reacted so differently Saturday night than in the spring. pic.twitter.com/WJlUFdvcGf
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 22, 2024
Had things been as unpredictable as it was in the season’s first Bristol race, the #5 team might not have been in Victory Lane. This was a result they needed considering how the last few races have gone for Yung Money.
Why the Bristol win was crucial for the #5 team
Larson might have had a lot of playoff points going into the round of 16 but he did not have a good start to it. Larson wrecked in Atlanta and finished P12 at The Glen. The 2021 Cup Series champion needed to have a strong finish before the round of 12 and that’s just what he got. However, he might not be confident enough, given his points situation and form, to comfortably make it through to the round of 8.
“We had it on our radar if we could perform and execute the way we needed to, at least get a stage win or two here or there, and you never know if you’re going to get a win, but it was important for us to try to finish the round really strong and handle what we could on our own to leave less to chance the way it was going to come down to points,” Daniels explained.
The next Cup race will be at the Kansas Speedway, a track where Larson won at earlier this season. Picking up another win there and locking in a round of 8 spots will be the goal for the #5 team.
