NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 16 — 90 laps / 226.8 miles
Sonoma Raceway (2.52-mile road course) — Sonoma, Calif.
Fast Facts for June 6, 2021
Tire: Goodyear Eagle Road Course Radials
Set limits: 6 sets for the race
Tire Code: D-4992 (same on all four tire positions)
Tire Circumference: 2,240 mm (88.58 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 22 psi; Right Front — 20 psi;
Left Rear — 17 psi; Right Rear — 17 psi
Storyline — NASCAR Cup returns to Sonoma: After not racing at Sonoma Raceway in 2020, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the northern California road course this week. As a reminder, the facility added “The Carousel” section of the track back to the course for the Cup cars in 2019, bringing the circuit up to 2.52 miles in length. Sonoma is considered the most technical of the NASCAR road courses, thus Goodyear brings a more tractive tread compound for this race. Adding that grip helps drivers negotiate the tight turns with the extreme braking into the corners and hard acceleration off the corners, all of which put undue stress on the tires. With all that, tire fall-off will be a factor, and teams will benefit when they choose to change four tires.
“Sonoma gives us a slightly different feel than what we see on other road courses like Watkins Glen or our recent stop at COTA,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear‘s director of racing. “Sonoma is a more technical course than most. Hard braking and acceleration on and off the tight corners means that grip is at a premium. Teams could make it a two-stop race, but many will choose to pit a third time to take advantage of fresh tires, especially at the end of the race.”
Notes — Cup teams have compound and construction changes from 2019 Sonoma tire: As on all NASCAR road courses, teams in the Cup Series will run the same Goodyear tire code on all four tire positions at Sonoma . . . this is the first time these teams will run this tire code . . . compared to the last Cup race at Sonoma 2019, this tire features a compound change to give the cars more grip and a minor construction update . . . this tire code is unique to this track — teams in NASCAR‘s three national touring series will run different tire codes at other road courses . . . as on all NASCAR road courses, teams will not run inner liners in their tires at Sonoma.
Wet Weather Tires — White-lettered tires on hand: Goodyear will bring its wet weather radials for use by Cup teams at Sonoma, should NASCAR decide that conditions warrant . . . teams will have up to 3 sets of wets for the race . . . this tire was last run by Cup teams at COTA two weeks ago . . . in addition to the obvious difference of a tread pattern versus Goodyear‘s dry weather “slick” tires, the “Goodyear” and “Eagle” lettering on the sidewalls of the wet weather tires is white, not the standard yellow.
NASCAR Xfinity Series — Race No. 13 — 75 laps / 169.35 miles
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (2.258-mile road course) — Lexington, Ohio
Fast Facts for June 5, 2021
Tire: Goodyear Eagle Road Course Radials
Set limits: 5 sets for the event
Tire Code: D-4990 (same on all four tire positions)
Tire Circumference: 2,240 mm (88.19 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 22 psi; Right Front — 20 psi;
Left Rear — 17 psi; Right Rear — 17 psi
Notes — Xfinty Series visits Mid-Ohio on COTA tire: As on all NASCAR road courses, Xfinity Series teams will run the same tire on all four tire positions at Mid-Ohio . . . this is the first time this tire is being run at this course, though these teams did run it at COTA two weeks ago . . . compared to what was run at the Xfinity Series‘ last race at Mid-Ohio, this tire features a minor construction update . . . . in addition to Mid-Ohio and COTA, this is the same tire NASCAR teams will run at the Indianapolis road course and Road America in 2021 . . . as on all NASCAR road courses, teams will not run inner liners in their tires at Road America.
Wet Weather Tires — White-lettered tires on hand: Goodyear will bring its wet weather radials for use by teams in all NASCAR series on the COTA, should NASCAR decide that conditions warrant . . . Xfinity will have 4 sets of wets available for their race . . . this tire was last run by Xfinity teams in qualifying at COTA two weeks ago . . . in addition to the obvious difference of a tread pattern versus Goodyear‘s dry weather “slick” tires, the “Goodyear” and “Eagle” lettering on the sidewalls of the wet weather tires is white, not the standard yellow.
— Goodyear Racing —
