Foyt says Firestone tires ‘Just As Bad’ as Goodyear
Quote selected text Published April 2nd, 2008 in NASCAR News
Tony Stewart doesn’t think much of the job Goodyear is doing in NASCAR, and A.J. Foyt is no fan of Firestone’s performance in the Indy Racing League. Asked before Saturday night’s Gainsco Indy 300 what he thought of Stewart’s rant about Goodyear a few weeks ago after NASCAR’s Atlanta race, Foyt took aim at the IRL’s tire supplier.
“Firestone’s just as bad,” he said. “We’ve got junk for tires. They’ve got one heat cycle, and they screwed us up the other day for qualifying; they fall off two or three tenths.”
Foyt, who will compete in next weekend’s Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg as a team owner for Darren Manning, was a Goodyear driver through much of his legendary racing career. Arch-rival Mario Andretti ran on Firestones. Stewart raced Firestones in the IRL when both tire companies were in the league. “I have no love for Firestone, they have no love for me,” Foyt said, adding that the tires made by Bridgestone Firestone in Japan are “a lot better” than those built domestically.
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The softer a tire is the more difference there will be between heat cycles. They get hard. That’s just the way rubber is.
There’s a lot more to it than that. Some tires don’t drop off as much over the first few heat cycles… whereas others drop off huge. Some (seemingly like the ones in NASCAR) never come up to where they should be in the first place.
Foyt is upset because that tire does what most others do… Stewart is upset because the tire he runs on DOESN’T do what any others do… There’s a huge difference between having a tire that drops off over a stint, and a tire that is so hard and useless that it doesn’t allow the drivers to push the cars because they have such little grip.
Having a stickier tire and less downforce makes for a fun car to drive. Having a sticky tire and a lot of downforce makes the car fast and controllable. Having a hard tire with low downforce makes the car move around a lot, but it’s still useable… but as you increase the downforce with a hard tire, the car becomes more evil. It becomes less predictable and twitchier. F1 cars are in a similar boat right now, as they have silly grooved tires with tons of downforce. NASCAR should reduce downforce and have stickier tires if they want closer racing.
A lot is expected of a tire. I don’t think all the manufacturers will ever make everyone happy. But I want to see good racing and driver safety.
Fisha695 wrote:
I say we kick AJ out of the new AMERICAN league for saying that. l0l
malcolm wrote:
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And that Sir Is the best explanation I have heard about how tires affect handling on this or most other sites for a long time !!! VERY Good Job
Oh and Fisha that was very cute as well. AJ is just a older version of Tony Stewart… Ask him what he thinks and he will tell you more than you want to hear, Don’t ask him and he will tell you any way…
AJ has never been known for diplomacy with words.
I know, thats why I put the l0l to show Sarcasm…..