Phoenix Finale Gripped by Tire Troubles, But Blame Doesn't Fall on Goodyear

The decisive NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway was dramatically impacted by a series of tire failures, creating a chaotic and ultimately extended battle for the championship. However, the consensus among drivers and team principals pointed away from the tire manufacturer, Goodyear, and towards aggressive team strategies as the primary catalyst for the widespread tire issues.

The problems first surfaced during Friday’s practice sessions, with several teams experiencing cut tires. This trend continued into the race weekend, culminating in a dramatic afternoon where tire failures played a significant role in shaping the championship outcome. By the checkered flag, each of the four championship contenders had encountered at least one instance of tire deflation. The most critical failure occurred with just a handful of laps remaining, when a blown tire on the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, driven by William Byron, sent the race into overtime.

Goodyear, the sole tire supplier for the NASCAR Cup Series, had brought a softer compound tire to Phoenix for the season finale, a move intended to enhance on-track action and provide teams with strategic options. While this softer compound may have contributed to the increased frequency of tire issues, the prevailing sentiment was that teams themselves pushed the limits of the tires by employing lower air pressures in a relentless pursuit of a speed advantage.

"Goodyear did a great job all season long," stated Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and one of the championship contenders whose race was significantly affected by tire issues. "It’s not their fault that we’re running the tires flat. I really applaud them and the tires that they’ve continued to bring to the racetrack and keep pushing the limits on softer, softer, to try to put it back in the drivers’ hands."

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Hamlin elaborated on the teams’ role in the tire failures, explaining, "It’s the teams. They’re the ones that come here and we test. There’s wheel force testing. They keep testing the limits of really how low you can go. It would be difficult for anyone to build a tire that can withstand what we’re doing to it with this car. They’re in a really tough spot. Certainly I think, if anything, they deserve credit." He emphasized that the issue was not with the tire’s design but with the teams’ aggressive approach to air pressure settings. "We’re just running our tires super low because that’s where they perform the best. Everyone is testing the limits. A lot of people found it."

This sentiment was echoed by race winner Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. "Just flirting with air pressure," Blaney commented. "These guys, that’s kind of the game. How low can you get. Just helps the long-run speed and grip. There’s kind of a basement. We have saw that a couple champ guys blew one. I think 19 and 24 blew one."

Joey Logano, Blaney’s teammate at Team Penske and another championship contender, also placed the responsibility on the teams’ strategies. "If you’re aggressive, you’re gonna pay the price when it comes to air pressure. No one should be blaming Goodyear or anything like that. It’s not on them, it’s on the teams and the settings that they put in their cars. The more aggressive you are, the faster it goes and the more likely it’s gonna blow out. All of us are just trying to figure out where that edge is."

The race itself was a testament to the unpredictable nature of motorsport, exacerbated by the tire issues. The first stage ran without significant tire-related incidents, which seemingly emboldened teams to push the boundaries further in the subsequent stages.

The tire problems began to manifest early in the second stage. Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, was among the first to experience a cut tire. Shortly after, Kyle Busch, piloting the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, also suffered a tire failure. A.J. Allmendinger, in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, slammed the Turn 3 wall for the second time that weekend due to a flat tire. The Dillon brothers, Austin and Ty, driving for Richard Childress Racing, soon followed with their own tire issues. Denny Hamlin reported a low tire condition under caution shortly thereafter, indicating a potential issue with his car’s tire pressure management.

The final stage saw the tire woes intensify. Kyle Larson, the eventual champion driving the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and Briscoe both experienced cut tires. A caution flag was brought out when Carson Hocevar, in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, suffered a tire failure. Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports then cut a tire, and Austin Cindric, in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford, blew a tire on corner entry, leading to contact with the wall. J.J. Yeley in the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford was the next to be hampered by a tire failure.

Of the eight natural cautions that occurred during the race, all but the first two were directly attributed to tire-related incidents, highlighting the pervasive nature of the problem throughout the field.

Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, acknowledged the efforts of Goodyear in trying to improve the racing product. "I have to give Goodyear a lot of credit," Hendrick stated. "We’ve been trying to improve the product on track of tire wear, tire degradation, falloff of lap time, to be able to mix up different lanes, have guys that have tires wear out and all that sort of thing."

However, Hendrick also pointed to the teams’ role in pushing the envelope. "What we do as the teams is we try to push every area to extract the grip out of the tires that we have to do. There’s several ways that you can do it: with load, with camber, with pressure. It’s one of those things where the performance side of it, there’s so much to be gained in what we have to push to get the performance out of ’em, that safety is absolutely a concern. The longevity and ability of your day to stay in the mix is, of course, a concern."

Despite the widespread tire failures, Hendrick maintained that the issue was not a failing on Goodyear’s part. "Today was a really hot day," he noted. "There was a lot of punishment of load and pace in the car and in the tires. I certainly don’t think in any way that is a miss on Goodyear’s part. I think we all knew what we were all working with coming in today. And it was hot. It was the perfect conditions set to really punish the tires, with the tire they brought, with what we had on track. That’s just kind of the way it was."

Blaney also speculated that the unique characteristics of the Phoenix Raceway track contributed to the difficulty in predicting tire behavior. "I think here is such an unknown because you have that dogleg that puts a ton of shock load on the tire," Blaney explained. "There’s not a lot of data for that." This suggests that the combination of track design and the softer tire compound created a challenging scenario for teams to manage.

Ultimately, the NASCAR Cup Series finale at Phoenix was a thrilling conclusion to the season, albeit one marked by a high degree of tire drama. While the failures certainly impacted the competitive landscape, the insights shared by drivers and team owners indicate that the pursuit of performance by the teams played a significant role, rather than a deficiency in Goodyear’s product. The incident serves as a reminder of the delicate balance between maximizing grip and ensuring tire durability in the high-stakes world of professional motorsports.