NASCAR and Goodyear have officially begun preparations for the 2026 Cup Series season. A tire test that is to be conducted over Wednesday and Thursday this week at the Bristol Motor Speedway will aim to figure out methods to improve the short track racing product by testing different tire compounds and combinations. Despite this effort, Rudy Fugle, William Byron‘s crew chief, isn’t very optimistic about what result can be achieved.
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The biggest issue with the Next Gen car at short tracks is that the trailing vehicle is too aerosensitive. But the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team’s crew chief believes that it would be very expensive for NASCAR to strip the car down and alter the aerodynamics. But this is also the most sensible solution to the problem. “My opinion on the aero side of it is pretty complex,” he said.
“With the way the underbody and the way the splitter is and the way the air flows to the louvers, I think it would be pretty expensive to do some of this stuff. I haven’t heard of any of their plans to be honest with you, but there are definitely some things that I think could help, but they are pretty large-scale things in my opinion.”
Fugle is self-aware that he is no expert when it comes to this. He admitted that there are better aerodynamicists out there than him and gave thought to the possibility that NASCAR has already employed some of them and they are working on making the racing product better.
In addition to testing tire combinations, NASCAR will also try out the 750 HP tapered spacer for the first time on a short track this week in the Next Gen car.
There were drastic swings in tire fall-off at short tracks this season. This variance is believed to be a product of the track and ambient temperature. One of the primary goals is to figure out a middle ground in which the extremes aren’t so far apart from each other based on temperature.
The ideal tire setup would promote tire fall-off and put an emphasis on tire management. At the same time, it would also prevent excessive tire wear. Three drivers will be used for the test: 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, and RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece.
