Phoenix Tire Woes: Teams Push Limits in Championship Showdown, Not Supplier

Phoenix, AZ – The NASCAR Cup Series championship finale at Phoenix Raceway was a dramatic affair, marred by a series of tire failures that kept fans on the edge of their seats and ultimately extended the race into overtime. While the recurring tire issues were a dominant storyline, interviews with drivers and team owners following the race suggest that the blame does not lie with tire manufacturer Goodyear, but rather with the aggressive strategies employed by the teams themselves.

Goodyear had introduced a softer tire compound for the championship decider at Phoenix, a move intended to enhance on-track competition and place more emphasis on driver skill. However, the softer rubber quickly revealed its limitations as tire issues began surfacing as early as Friday’s practice sessions. The trend continued throughout the weekend, culminating in a race where a significant portion of the natural cautions were directly attributed to tire problems.

The championship contenders themselves were not immune to the tire woes. Each of the four drivers vying for the title experienced at least one instance of a cut or blown tire during the 312-lap event. The most impactful failure occurred in the closing laps when the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, driven by William Byron, suffered a tire failure, triggering a caution that ultimately led to an overtime finish.

Following the conclusion of the race, which saw Ryan Blaney of Team Penske claim his maiden Cup Series championship, the conversation among competitors and team principals consistently pointed towards aggressive setup choices by the teams as the primary cause of the tire issues.

Related News :

Denny Hamlin, who narrowly missed out on his first Cup Series title after the overtime restart, was emphatic in his defense of Goodyear. "I think they (Goodyear) did a great job all season long," Hamlin stated. "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."

Hamlin elaborated on the teams’ role, explaining the constant pursuit of a speed advantage. "It’s the teams. They’re the ones that come here and we test. There’s wheel force test. 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 further emphasized that the tire failures were not indicative of a design flaw, but rather a consequence of teams pushing the envelope with tire pressures. "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."

Race winner Ryan Blaney echoed Hamlin’s sentiments, acknowledging the cat-and-mouse game teams play with tire pressures. "Just flirting with air pressure," Blaney said. "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, also placed the onus on the teams. "If you’re aggressive, you’re gonna pay the price when it comes to air pressure," Logano commented. "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 chaotic nature of the race, with multiple tire-related incidents, began to escalate in the second stage. Chase Briscoe was among the first to report a tire issue, followed by Kyle Busch. A.J. Allmendinger also impacted the Turn 3 wall for the second time that weekend due to a flat tire. The Dillon brothers soon experienced their own tire failures, and Denny Hamlin reported a low tire pressure situation under caution shortly thereafter.

The final stage saw a continuation of the tire drama. Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe both suffered tire failures, and a flat tire on Carson Hocevar’s car necessitated a caution flag. Alex Bowman then joined the list of drivers with tire issues, followed by Austin Cindric, who blew a tire on corner entry. J.J. Yeley also encountered a tire problem, and as previously mentioned, William Byron’s late-race failure proved to be the most critical. Of the eight natural cautions that occurred during the race, all but the first two were a direct result of tire failures.

Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, whose driver Kyle Larson ultimately secured the championship, acknowledged Goodyear’s efforts while also highlighting the inherent risks taken by teams. "I have to give Goodyear a lot of credit," Hendrick said. "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."

He continued, "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 multiple tire failures affecting his own team, Hendrick maintained that Goodyear was not at fault. He pointed to the challenging conditions at Phoenix Raceway, including a hot day and the inherent demands of the track, as contributing factors. "Today was a really hot day," Hendrick observed. "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 track, particularly the dogleg section that places significant shock load on the tires, contributed to the unpredictability. "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."

The tire issues at Phoenix highlighted the delicate balance between maximizing performance and ensuring durability in NASCAR. While Goodyear’s softer compound aimed to provide more exciting racing, the teams’ aggressive pursuit of every available tenth of a second pushed the limits of that compound, leading to the widespread tire failures that defined the championship race. The consensus among the drivers and owners was clear: the responsibility for the tire problems ultimately rested with the teams’ strategic decisions, not with the tire supplier.