The latest Cup Series race in Richmond was the first one in the ongoing season to use wet weather tires. Though the race itself held a few controversies, the tires mostly received rave reviews from drivers considering that it was the first time they were being used for a points-paying race on an oval track. Coming back from the event, retired icon Kevin Harvick got on his podcast to detail the differences between the standard radial tire and a wet weather tire.
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He said that the grooves on a wet weather tire help the drivers get more feel from their cars since they cause the tires to move around more. He continued that slick tires didn’t move the back of the car as much and that driving on them was a more rigid experience. In his words, “So just that the feel of the car… It goes from really soft and mushy to stiff and rigid. It’s a big adjustment for the drivers to have to go from one tire to the other.”
Sunday’s race began nearly 20 minutes after the scheduled start and NASCAR started the race on wet weather tires. The initial 30 laps went by smoothly without notable incidents. Drivers and fans both enjoyed the experience on wet tires, which, as Harvick said, have treads and offer a lot more grip. The track being dry for 30 laps, NASCAR brought the cars back to the pit road to change back to the traditional slick tires.
Denny Hamlin was one of the drivers who were impressed with the performance of the tires. “It was crazy that it all turned out the way it did. I was able to hold my track position pretty good. I thought they executed it as good as they could,” he said as reported by motorsports.com. His crew chief Chris Gabehart concurred saying that the experience was “seamless” from his point of view.
NASCAR happy with wet weather tire success at an Oval course
The promotion’s Vice President of Competition, Elton Sawyer, lauded his CEO Jim France for pushing the development of wet weather tires. Without them, a much longer delay could’ve inflicted Sunday’s race. He said, “A couple of years ago, he tasked the R&D Center and Goodyear to come up with a tire that we could run in the damp, and tonight was a success. We were able to get the race started pretty much on time. The guys did a great job with the tire. Goodyear did a phenomenal job.”
He reiterated that his team will continue to look into ways to improve the implementation of when the tire is put to use and that the first-hand experience in challenging weather conditions was a crucial step in the same.
