Let's start off with the basics; do you know what NASCAR stands for? It is an acronym for The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. Since the year 1997, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company for New & Used Tires has pretty much been the main tire provider for all of three NASCAR's top branches; which are the Craftsman Truck Series, the Nationwide Series, & the Sprint Cup Series.
One of the main racing tires is called the Goodyear Racing Eagles. The reason why they are so popular in the racing industry is because they include a bunch of different elements. Let's take the time to study each one; do you have a pen & paper ready?
Apex: dominates the stiffness of the sidewall.
Bead: the Racing Eagles have two beads; which means that there is good contact between the tire & the actual OEM Wheel.
Carcass Piles: these piles serve as the backbone of the racing tire. It provides the support & strength the tire needs.
Belt Package: there's something called steel braided belts that are actually placed between the tread & piles to give the Goodyear tire the flat footprint.
Inner Liner: this is a separate tire that gives the support a tire needs just in case there is a puncture or just a random failure in the main tire.
Tread Compound: the contact patch.. or the part of the tire that gives it its grip.
Since the racing tires have no true tread, they are considered to be slick tires. "Slicks" are known as tires that have smooth surfaces (go figure, right?). Since they have no grooves or anything of that sort, they tend to have a wider & larger contact patch; this leaves a bigger footprint & gives the tire optical traction.
There are special processes to manufacture a Racing Tire; one of them involves a method called curing. This technique gives the tires their proper & required compound; but even though this my seem simple, the tires are always under an extreme amount of pressure & heat most of the time. This can eventually alter the way that they grip to the road during a race.
It's not like Goodyear makes the tires & NASCAR automatically puts them on their cars; they need to test them out first. When these tests take place, NASCAR & Goodyear Tires work together to pick specific drivers from each of the individual four producers that are involved with NASCAR & then they pick tracks that they would like to use to record the data of the tires. Does that make sense? I sure hope so. The drivers that are chosen decide to bring their own cars & teams & then just run lap after lap after lap to test out the tires. At the same time, the tire engineers take note of the tire temperature, the psi, the wear of the tire, & other factors to take back to the "lab" to determine what compound to use when they manufacture the new tires. The compound usually refers to a combination of rubber & polymer chemicals that give the racing tires the strength & longevity they need.
In years before, testing tires was looked upon as an inconvenience by most teams; but I mean, it saves you from future accidents.. you know? That's just me though.
So if you love watching the NASCAR races 36 times a year with that big family of yours, this article should serve as some sort of interest.. or at least I really hope it does.
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