NASCAR Allowing Tire Choices at Richmond

NASCAR will allow NASCAR Cup Series teams to choose between the tires they use at the upcoming race at Richmond Raceway, it announced July 16.

The move allows teams to make tire strategy calls during the event, something that was tested during the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Teams will be allotted two sets of tires for practice, one the standard Goodyear tire and the other a so-called option tire, which is made from a similar compound as those used for the wet-weather tire for oval races.

During qualifying, teams must use the standard tire, which will transfer to the race allotment: eight sets, six standard and two option.

All four tires must be from the same type at any given time.

“The All-Star Race is a great event obviously by itself, but it gives us the opportunity to learn,” Elton Sawyer, NASCAR svp of competition, said in a NASCAR release. “This past year, it gave us the chance to try something with tires, and we’re working really hard in NASCAR as well as the folks at the R&D center to improve the short-track package. So the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro gave us the opportunity to introduce the option tire, something we’d never done to my knowledge in the history of our sport, to have different compounds during an event.

“As that event unfolded, throughout the weekend, we were still optimistic that we would see something there that would really move the needle on our short-track package. We didn’t get the results at Wilkesboro that we were hoping for, with a very similar opportunity that we had at Bristol [Motor Speedway] where we did see results, and even at Iowa [Speedway] where we did as well. Any time we can put our teams in a position where they have to manage tires, we really see some great racing and we see an entertaining race, so that’s our goal going into Richmond.”

NASCAR will hold one 45-minute practice session prior to qualifying to account for the tire change.