Despite the impressive driving on display, the big focus was on excessive tire wear.
Despite the impressive driving on display in this year’s NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, it seems that we’re either talking about pit strategy or tire wear every week. Back in April, during the spring Bristol race, teams were able to comfortably complete fifty laps or more on a pair of right side tires. Goodyear set to work changing the tire formula yet again. It’s entirely possible that they went too far in the other direction.
On a recent episode of The Dale Jr. Download, Dale Earnhardt Jr. mentioned a rumor that, during testing, the new Bristol right-side tire compound more or less disintegrated almost immediately. While he clarified that this was a rumor, he also added more context, stating that, allegedly, this was a freshly molded tire, and that the rubber hadn’t had a chance to fully cure yet. Earnhardt also mentioned that recent “green” initiatives at Goodyear may have affected the actual chemical compounds of the tires themselves and made them worse in terms of performance.
There may have been some truth to those rumors. By the fifty lap mark – roughly 10% of the way into the race – every team had stopped for fresh rubber. Crew chiefs and drivers were panicking, not knowing if they had enough tires to make it through the night. It was a stressful evening for the teams, but for the crowd gathered at Bristol Motor Speedway – and the audience at home – it was compelling racing nonetheless.
Drivers didn’t just compete with each other – they were competing with the track itself, trying to balance their naturally competitive nature with the need to strictly ration their tires. While some will lament this type of racing, the final battle between Christopher Bell and Brad Keselowski was one for the ages.
And, as always, there was still somehow enough tread left for a big smoky burnout. As of Sunday morning, Josh Berry, Shane van Gisbergen, Alex Bowman, and Austin Dillon found themselves eliminated from the 2025 playoffs. It’s a shame we won’t see SVG lock himself into the round of 8 with an upset at the Charlotte Roval in a few weeks, but there’s still plenty of action left in this NASCAR Cup Series season.
Photo: Wade Payne/Associated Press
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