GOODYEAR TIRE NOTES
NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 34 — 267 laps / 400.5 miles Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5-mile oval) — Homestead, Fla.
Fast Facts for October 21-22, 2023
Tire: Goodyear Eagle 18-inch Speedway Radials
Set limits: Cup: 1 set for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 10 sets for the race (9 race sets plus 1 set transferred from qualifying)
Tire Codes: Left-side — D-5184; Right-side — D-5190
Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,263 mm (89.09 in.); Right-side — 2,279 mm (89.72 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 18 psi; Left Rear — 18 psi; Right Front — 40 psi; Right Rear — 36 psi
Storyline — Homestead = high tire wear: Homestead-Miami Speedway is well known for providing some of the best racing on the NASCAR Cup schedule. There are several reasons for that, including the track configuration and the progressive banking. But perhaps most of all is the abrasive track surface which wears tires and leads to a lot of comers and goers throughout a run. Tire management will be a key for drivers, with those that are easier on their tires early in a run gaining back track position later in a run. High tire wear also helps bring in the team aspect of the sport, with crews being called on to make four-tire stops all race long. A tenth of a second or two gained on pit road is a major advantage on a mile-and-a-half speedway where aerodynamics is so important.
“Homestead ranks right up there with Darlington as tracks with the highest tire wear on the Cup schedule,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear‘s director of racing. “We will see lap-time fall-off of more than two seconds over the course of a run, so tire management will be important. Being an intermediate speedway, teams will again look to get the rear end of the car down and sealed off as much as possible to gain downforce and an aerodynamic advantage. One way they do that is dropping the air pressure in the rear tires, which is always a risk vs. reward proposition. Going too low on the rear pressures can cause those tires to over-deflect, sustain damage to the components and cause a problem later in a run.”
Notes — Fourth Cup race on this tire set-up in 2023: Being on 18-inch bead diameter tires, NASCAR Cup teams will run a different tire set-up than those in the Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series at Homestead this week . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires Cup teams ran at Homestead last season . . . this is the same tire set-up these teams have run on the Charlotte oval and at Darlington this season . . . Cup teams have also run this right-side tire code at Kansas, Las Vegas, Nashville and Pocono in 2023 . . . with this 18-inch tire, and its lower profile sidewall, NASCAR Cup cars will not run inner liners in any of their tires.
NASCAR Xfinity Series — Race No. 31 — 200 laps / 300 miles NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series — Race No. 22 — 134 laps / 201 miles Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5-mile oval) — Homestead, Fla.
Fast Facts for October 20-21, 2023
Tire: Goodyear Eagle 15-inch Speedway Radials
Set limits: Xfinity: 6 sets for the event; Truck: 5 sets for the event
Tire Codes: Left-side — D-6106; Right-side — D-6130
Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,225 mm (87.60 in.); Right-side — 2,250 mm (88.58 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 18 psi; Left Rear — 18 psi; Right Front — 45 psi; Right Rear — 42 psi
Notes — Xfinity, Truck teams return to Homestead on 2022 tire set-up: Being on 15-inch bead diameter tires, NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series teams will run a different tire set-up than those in the Cup Series at Homestead this weekend . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires teams in both of these series ran at Homestead last season . . . they have also run this tire set-up at Darlington this year . . . this left-side tire code is especially popular, with teams in these two series running it at Auto Club (Xfinity only), Bristol concrete (both series), Dover (Xfinity only) and Pocono (both series) in 2023 . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, Xfinity and Truck teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Homestead . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
— Goodyear Racing —
