Associated Press

HAMPTON, GA. (AP)
Goodyear is facing more questions about the quality of its tires.

At least a dozen drivers were affected by tire problems during Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, stirring up complaints that Goodyear supplied a compound that was good for speed but low on durability at the high-banked track.

“When they come here and test, you expect them to build a tire that we can abuse and that we can race hard with,” said Jeff Gordon, one of those affected. “That obviously wasn’t the case. There is a good chance we were too aggressive, but until we go back and analyze everything it’s hard to say.”

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Bob Pockgrass – scenedaily.com

FONTANA, Calif. – Goodyear officials took 23 unused tires from the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series garages that showed signs of thin tread at Auto Club Speedway.

After Sprint Cup practice Friday, Goodyear officials saw three tires with a small patch of localized, rapid tread wear. They then asked Goodyear technicians in Akron, Ohio, to re-examine the X-rays of the 2,000 right-side tires that were brought to the track with a more thorough look at the area where those other tires had shown the thin tread, Goodyear global racing tire manager Stu Grant said Saturday. The X-rays are originally done so technicians can look for foreign particles or other abnormalities in the tires after they come off the production line.

Following the examinations Friday, the engineers saw possible signs of a similar problem in 19 tires sold to teams in the Cup garage and four sold to teams in the Nationwide garage this weekend. Goodyear asked that those tires be return and replaced them.

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