NASCAR’s wet weather tires came into play twice in three weeks and the response has been largely positive. At the Chicago Street Race, teams were allowed to choose the tire they wanted to run on and when to pit despite the track being damp. It came just a couple of weeks after non-competitive pit stops and only wet weather tires were mandated for the New Hampshire race.
Advertisement
Now, the sanctioning body aims to have competitive stops under wet conditions on short tracks. NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer said after the Loudon race itself that they would give the choice of tires to the teams. No one quite expected it to happen just a couple of weeks later. However, Chicago was a street course and oval racing in the wet is a different affair.
A beautiful sight to see. 😍@usatoday | #USATODAY301 pic.twitter.com/imMpZXDF8Z
— New Hampshire Motor Speedway (@NHMS) June 23, 2024
“Road course racing, we’ve done that for many years now. We have a comfort level and we have some understanding about what that looks like and eventually, we will get there on the short ovals,” Sawyer told NASCAR.
Wet weather racing is becoming popular among the Cup Series drivers thanks to Goodyear and NASCAR’s efforts. After the Chicago Street Race, there were several positive reviews.
Cup Series drivers hail NASCAR’s wet weather efforts
Defending Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney hailed NASCAR’s decision to allow drivers to choose their strategies. The Team Penske man finished P10 after switching to dry tires and he was quite happy about it. Tyler Reddick, on the other hand, failed to win the race despite having better tires. However, he too praised NASCAR’s efforts.
“I think giving us the option to go with the wet tires and the dry tires at the beginning added an element of stress that I don’t think we’re necessarily used to. So that was fun to decide what you wanted to do at the start of the race there.” – Tyler Reddick.
Wet-weather racing adds a lot to the sport and it is something NASCAR has been missing for a long time. Now, there is a solid plan in place and everyone in the sport has reacted to it positively. Gone are the days when bad weather immediately meant the race had to be shortened or postponed.
