NASCAR Gears Up for 2026 Short Track Season with Crucial Tire Testing

[City, State] – [Date] – NASCAR’s 2026 Cup Series season is unofficially underway this week as teams and Goodyear converge for critical tire testing sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. The focus of this two-day event is to refine tire compounds specifically for short track racing, a discipline that has seen significant volatility in its racing product over recent seasons, ranging from traditional, close-quarters racing to extreme tire wear scenarios.

This variability is largely attributed to ambient temperature fluctuations, which can significantly impact tire adhesion to the track surface. Cooler conditions, for instance, have historically led to situations where tire sets could only endure 30-50 laps before requiring replacement, even with judicious management. While these races have often been praised for creating substantial speed differentials and a higher degree of on-track contact, the general sentiment among competitors and fans alike is a desire for a more consistent performance baseline, less dependent on unpredictable weather patterns.

The primary objective of this test, as indicated by NASCAR competition officials, is to identify a tire setup that promotes a healthy degree of fall-off and encourages strategic tire management, without replicating the excessive wear observed in some of the series’ most recent short track encounters. A parallel and equally important goal is to develop a tire compound that exhibits greater temperature neutrality, ensuring consistent performance regardless of ambient temperature swings.

Leading the testing efforts are a select group of drivers and teams representing the three major manufacturers:

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This testing session also marks a significant milestone as the short track package will be outfitted with the 750 horsepower tapered spacer. This represents an increase from the current 670 HP target and is one of the new technical specifications for the Next Gen car slated for implementation in the 2025 season.

Following the Bristol test, NASCAR and Goodyear are scheduled to conduct further evaluations at North Wilkesboro Speedway. At this subsequent test, the sanctioning body will also explore potential technical modifications to the car aimed at further enhancing the short track racing product.

The introduction of the Next Gen car in 2022 initially showed promise in improving racing on intermediate tracks. However, it presented challenges on flatter short tracks and road courses, particularly in areas where a single racing groove prevailed. This was largely due to the aerodynamic sensitivity of the trailing car, which struggled to maintain pace and position when following closely.

NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell acknowledged these challenges last month, expressing a willingness to experiment with additional changes beyond the planned horsepower increase. "I think what you’ll see us do is, we’ve got the drivers, with the counsel from Christopher Bell and others, Joey Logano, talking about, ‘Hey! Let’s try some of these things.’ Working with 3 of the OEM manufacturers and crew chiefs or Heads of Competition. Putting some ideas together, going and trying it at North Wilkesboro and see what happens," O’Donnell stated.

Bell, a vocal proponent of improving short track racing, believes the Cup Series cars need to emulate the handling characteristics of their Xfinity Series counterparts. "I think they need to get the Cup aero map to match the Xfinity Series cars," Bell told Motorsport.com. "That would be the best case scenario, to get the Cup cars to react like the Xfinity cars. I was a big advocate of going back to narrower tires, but after all the work Goodyear has put in this year, the cars are sliding around a lot now. We go to road courses and short tracks, and I can promise you, it is slippery. At Martinsville, and the Charlotte Road Course, we are sliding the car around a lot and are overpowered with the current horsepower."

Bell further elaborated on the perceived aerodynamic differences. "I don’t know if it’s aero or mechanical, but I think it’s aero because we drive the car in yaw like the Xfinity cars can and I think that’s a big part of the eye test — the way the Xfinity guys look like they are hustling the cars. Cup cars, even though we are close to out of control, it doesn’t look like it on TV. I would love to get us closer to the Xfinity car."

The fundamental aerodynamic difference, according to Bell, lies in how downforce is generated. The Xfinity car exhibits a nose-down, tail-up attitude, while the Cup car relies more on its diffuser for rear downforce, resulting in a tail-down, nose-up configuration. Bell identifies this as a significant hurdle, stating, "I don’t know," when asked about a solution. "We need to find a way to optimize with that too. Like, NASCAR can’t tell us ‘drop the nose and raise the tail’ because that’s not how this car is optimal. We’ll always evolve back to nose up and tail down attitude because that’s how the car was designed." He added, "It’s worse in traffic. This is why we can’t get the car in front of us loose. This hurts passing. We need to optimize the car with the nose down and the tail up, and whatever gets us there, that’s what we need to do."

In addition to tire and aerodynamic evaluations, the testing program will also include assessment of the new McLaren TAG-510 Electric Control Unit and Data Logger, set to be implemented next season.

Driver Brad Keselowski, when asked about specific areas for improvement, emphasized the need for clarity on NASCAR’s experimental scope. "You have to be more specific for me to have a strong opinion but I know the ECU is a big part of that test and getting that right," Keselowski commented. "There are a lot of things that those tests will be important for."

Adding to the discussion on short track modifications, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has previously advocated for a more stripped-down approach to the Next Gen car for short track races.

The perspective from the pit box also highlights the complexities involved in achieving the desired handling characteristics. Adam Stevens, crew chief for Christopher Bell, admits the path forward is unclear. "I think everyone has a handle on what they want to happen but I don’t think anybody has a handle on what it’s going to take, aerodynamically to make that happen," Stevens stated. "I would certainly put myself in that category. We all want the trailing car to not be at such a disadvantage to the leading car. How to make that happen, I have not put any time or study into that. I can tell you the people that have taken the time to over the years, haven’t had much success anyway so I can’t tell you what widget we need to try either. If anyone knows what that widget is, it isn’t me."

Rudy Fugle, crew chief for William Byron, expressed concerns about the potential cost of significant aerodynamic overhauls. "My opinion on the aero side of it is pretty complex," Fugle 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. It would have to be a redesign of some things. There are some smarter aerodynamicists out there than me. I’m not one at all, so definitely smarter than me. Maybe they’re getting somewhere that I don’t know about."

Chris Gayle suggested a focus on decoupling the cars from the shocks and investigating the removal of components from the sealed underbody.

Despite the challenges, there is a palpable sense of optimism regarding the incremental progress being made, particularly with the planned horsepower increase. Paul Wolfe, crew chief for Joey Logano, believes that while the horsepower boost alone may not be a dramatic shift, its combination with advancements from Goodyear and potential aerodynamic tweaks could yield cumulative improvements.

Wolfe reflected on the evolution of the Next Gen car since its 2022 debut. "The horsepower thing has been on the radar for a while," Wolfe noted. "I’m excited for the direction. That’s good. I’m not aware of any of the aero stuff that’s been talked about. We’re already on two different packages when it comes to mile and a half versus short track. We’ve run both packages on short tracks."

He continued, "It’s hard to say anything has been a big more mover on the aero side but with all this being said, we need to keep in mind that not one change is going to be huge, it’s about stacking little changes here and there to make the racing better. I saw where some guys said ‘we’re not going to see anything out of the 750’ but is it going to be night and day, no, but when it comes to managing and using your tires, those things, adding horsepower isn’t going to make it worse. It’s going to make the wear worse, which is where we’re trying to go."

Wolfe concluded by comparing the team’s approach to finding speed with NASCAR’s efforts to enhance entertainment value. "I’m excited to see the 750 package and I don’t think it’s going to be worse, and it should directionally make things better," Wolfe stated. "We’ve done some good things with tires this year. Goodyear has pushed the boundary there. We’ve seen good results there and I’m excited to continue down that path. This is a tough one, and I don’t know that we as a sport are always going to knock it out of the park there, but it will continue to evolve and we’ve gone in the right directions and I’m excited to continue down that path as well."

NASCAR has yet to finalize the specific parameters and scope of the North Wilkesboro test, including the exact technical elements to be examined and the number of participating teams.