Tony Tough on ‘Terrible’ Tires

For what last Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 lacked in race-time drama, the post-race press conference and comments made up for. Many drivers vocalized their opposition of Goodyear’s choice of tire compound, but none were as strong in their opinions as 2nd place-finisher Tony Stewart.

“That was the most pathetic racing tire that I’ve ever been on in my professional career,” said Stewart in the post-race conference. “… Goodyear can’t build a tire that is worth a crap. If I were Goodyear, I would be really embarrassed about this weekend and what they brought here.”

Most drivers complained of severe handling problems, causing them to not race side-by-side. This led to long green flag runs and few cars on the lead lap, the usual ingredients for what is considered to be a boring NASCAR race.

Stewart, a self-proclaimed 26 year-veteran of racing, says he has never seen tires in this condition.

“I’m one of the few guys that has run enough of this stuff to actually know what it is like to have driven for Firestone, to have driven for Hoosier tires, you name it. We’ve even drove for Goodyear in some of these series but what we had yesterday at this level of competition was not acceptable. We’ve complained for years on numerous occasions behind closed doors to Goodyear and the problem doesn’t get solved.”

The criticisms of Goodyear were so strong, that the tire company sent marketing manager Justin Fantozzi to defend the decision of their providing that particular compound.

“I’ve heard what they said,” said a solemn Fantozzi. “We’re tremendously proud of the wear rates that we saw here. We had a defined development process for this particular tire. We started in August, with a development test here at Atlanta. From those wear rates and those data sets, we then made a recommendation for the open house test that was a different tire than we actually raced on here in October.”

Though many supported Stewart’s criticism of the hard tire, there were some who disagreed.

Race winner and Stewart’s Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch agreed on Stewart’s tire assessment, but said that the race still boiled down to which team and driver could make the best adjustments for the conditions.

This Week In NASCAR panelists Michael Waltrip and Chad Knaus had much different opinions than Stewart.

Waltrip said that he applauded Goodyear for bringing a hard, safe tire. Knaus said that the handling problems were more of a result in the lack of downforce in the new car.

Toyota wins first Cup race

The #18 in Victory Lane at an Atlanta Motor Speedway Sprint Cup race is not a strange sight. A Toyota, Kyle Busch, and M&Ms, though, are winner’s circle firsts for the track.

Busch, who had a fast car throughout the race, assumed the lead position in the race, after Carl Edwards, leader of the most laps and winner of the past two races, retired early from the race, due to transmission failure.

Busch also was the first winner in the Car of Tomorrow nearly one year ago, at Bristol. The stats at Bristol from the last few races point to a high likelihood of Busch finishing first again.

Roush and Edwards’ team will not appeal penalty

Just as Busch claimed the race lead because of Edwards’ misfortune, he also gained the points lead after the penalty to the #99 team.

Despite this, Jack Roush and the team announced that they will not appeal the penalty, though they maintain their non-intention to cheat.

Edwards’ winning car was found to have a bolt loose on the tank that carried the oil reservoir in Las Vegas post-race inspection. This creates downforce, making the car grip the track better.

Roush-Fenway Racing did say that they conducted an internal investigation to determine if the team left the bolt of intentionally and found that it did not. Nonetheless, Roush-Fenway President Geoff Smith said that the proof of non-intention does not excuse them from the penalty, as far as the National Stock Car Racing Commission is concerned.

Jarrett to make final Cup points start of career at Bristol

After a long and fruitful Sprint Cup career, 1999 champion Dale Jarrett makes his final points-paying start on Sunday, the 668th of his career. Jarrett won at Bristol in 1997 and made his first start there in 1986.

The driver of the #44 UPS Toyota decided to hang up his driving gloves a year earlier than he anticipated, partially due the lack of success he had last year. In 2007, his team failed to make several races and ran poorly in the ones it made. He is handing over the keys of his UPS car to his Michael Waltrip Racing teammate David Reutimann.

Jarrett won 32 races in his career, including three Daytona 500s and one Brickyard 400. He will make his final start ever in a Cup car in this year’s All Star race in May, at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Georgia boys a poor show for home crowd

The two drivers in the Sprint Cup race on Sunday each had a rough day. Unadilla’s David Ragan finished 23rd, two laps down. Peachtree City’s Reed Sorenson had a worse day, finishing way back in 31st place, four laps off the pace. Ragan and Reed sit 21st and 22nd in the points, respectively.

Dawsonville’s Bill Elliott was a part of the downward spiral that is 2008 for the Wood Brothers. For the third time in four races this year, the team failed to qualify. Barring a major miracle, the team will likely be out of the top-35 in owners’ points for all of 2008.

Ragan did perform well in the Nationwide Series race. He led a lap and ran in the top-10 for much of the race, eventually finishing 16th, after having throttle problems and getting bumped into the wall late in the race. He and the #6 Discount Tire team sit fifth in the Nationwide Series drivers’ points standings.

In the Craftsman Truck Series race, the #51 Billy Ballew-owned team of Kyle Busch wound up in Victory Lane. Busch led an overwhelming majority of the laps in the American Continental Lines 200 and completed a four-wide pass on the apron of the track, early in the race.

Dacula’s Andy Lally finished 22nd in the #7 truck. Marc Mitchell finished 23rd in a 2nd Ballew Toyota and Tucker’s Shane Sieg and the #07 team finished 31st in the 32 truck field.

Sponsorship news

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. and the #40 Chip Ganassi team and driver Dario Franchitti will begin a season-long partnership at Bristol. The company will be Franchitti’s primary sponsor on the #40 Dodge and will continue on as an associate sponsor for the rest of the season. The group also will sponsor IRL and Ganassi driver Dan Wheldon this year.

On the flipside of sponsorship news, the #27 Bill Davis Racing team is suspending operations, at least until it finds a sponsor. Team crew chief Slugger Labbe confirmed this earlier this week.

Former open-wheel driver Jacques Villeneuve began the year as the team’s driver, but was replaced by Bill Davis Racing Truck Series driver Mike Skinner, after Villeneuve failed to qualify for the Daytona 500. The team did plan to place him in the car again if he found sponsorship. Skinner made one race in the car and another Davis Truck Series teammate, Johnny Benson, failed to qualify the team’s car at Atlanta Motor Speedway.