NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 36 — 312 laps / 312 miles Phoenix Raceway (1.0-mile oval) — Avondale, Ariz.
Fast Facts for November 3-5, 2023
Tire: Goodyear Eagle 18-inch Speedway Radials (NASCAR 75 edition)
Set limits: Cup: 3 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 9 sets for the race (8 race sets plus 1 set transferred from qualifying)
Tire Codes: Left-side — D-5214; Right-side — D-5216
Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,251 mm (88.62 in.); Right-side — 2,276 mm (89.61 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 14 psi; Left Rear — 14 psi; Right Front — 30 psi; Right Rear — 26 psi
Storyline — Change in Cup tires to introduce more lap-time fall-off at Phoenix: The tire set-up that Goodyear brings to Phoenix Raceway has traditionally lined up with what is run at similar tracks like New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway. After a test and successful race at New Hampshire this July, NASCAR Cup teams will move to that same set-up for this weekend. The change moves along lines that Goodyear has rolled in at many tracks throughout the 2023 season — the second on the Cup Series‘ Next Gen car — that increases grip and tire wear, which leads to lap-time fall-off.
“Increasing fall-off has been something we‘ve worked on with a lot of our tire set-ups this season,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear‘s director of racing. “For the group of tracks that Phoenix falls into, we held a test at Loudon earlier in the year and made a change to that set-up for the July race. That race went very well, and after further confirmation at a Richmond test, we decided to bring the new set-up to Phoenix for the championship weekend. Tire wear and fall-off is an important element to good racing because it brings the driver more into the equation with tire management. Those drivers that are easier on their tires early in a run are the ones you see gaining spots later. That means more passing throughout the field and, ultimately, better racing for the fans.”
Notes — Cup teams switch to New Hampshire tire set-up at Phoenix: 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 for at Phoenix this week . . . this is a different tire set-up than Cup teams ran at Phoenix in March . . . compared to what was run in that earlier race at this track, both this left-side and right-side tire feature compound changes to add grip and introduce wear . . . this tire set-up debuted at New Hampshire in July . . . with this 18-inch tire, and its lower profile sidewall, NASCAR Cup cars do not run inner liners in any of their tires.
NASCAR 75 — Goodyear to run special sidewall design at Phoenix (see attached photo): To commemorate NASCAR‘s 75th anniversary season, Goodyear will run a special logo on the sidewall of all its tires for Championship Weekend at Phoenix . . . Goodyear is the longest-running continuous partner in NASCAR history and has been the exclusive tire supplier to the sanctioning body‘s top three national divisions since 1997 . . . 2023 is also a milestone year for Goodyear, marking the company‘s 125th year in business dating back to 1898.
Wet Weather Tires — Goodyear bringing wet weather tires to Phoenix: Goodyear will bring its 18-inch wet weather radial tires to Phoenix for the NASCAR Cup cars, should NASCAR determine that conditions warrant . . . Cup teams will have a maximum of four sets of wet weather tires for the event . . . NASCAR Cup teams last ran a wet weather tire in competition at the Chicago street course in July, and last ran it on a short track in the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro in May . . . 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. 33 — 200 laps / 200 miles NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series — Race No. 23 — 150 laps / 150 miles Phoenix Raceway (1.0-mile oval) — Avondale, Ariz.
Fast Facts for November 2-4, 2023
Tire: Goodyear Eagle 15-inch Speedway Radials (NASCAR 75 edition)
Set limits: Xfinity: 6 sets for the event; Craftsman Truck: 6 sets for the event
Tire Codes: Left-side — D-6114; Right-side — D-6116
Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,218 mm (87.32 in.); Right-side — 2,244 mm (88.35 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 14 psi; Left Rear — 14 psi; Right Front — 28 psi; Right Rear — 26 psi
Notes — Xfinity, Trucks complete second season on this Phoenix 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 Phoenix this week . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that these teams have run at Phoenix since the start of the 2022 season, making this the fourth race for Xfinity and second race for Trucks on this tire set-up at this track . . . this tire set-up has also been run at Gateway (Trucks only), Indianapolis Raceway Park (Trucks only), Milwaukee (Trucks only), New Hampshire (Xfinity only), North Wilkesboro (Trucks only) and Richmond (both series) in 2023 . . . as on most NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length, teams will not run inner liners in their tires at Phoenix.
NASCAR 75 — Goodyear to run special sidewall design at Phoenix: To commemorate NASCAR‘s 75th anniversary season, Goodyear will run a special logo on the sidewall of all its tires for Championship Weekend at Phoenix . . . Goodyear is the longest-running continuous partner in NASCAR history and has been the exclusive tire supplier to the sanctioning body‘s top three national divisions since 1997 . . . 2023 is also a milestone year for Goodyear, marking the company‘s 125th year in business dating back to 1898.
Wet Weather Tires — Goodyear bringing wet weather tires to Phoenix: Goodyear will bring its 15-inch wet weather radial tires to Phoenix for NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series teams, should NASCAR determine that conditions warrant . . . Xfinity and Truck teams will have a maximum of three sets of wet weather tires for the event . . . Xfinity last ran in wet conditions on the Indianapolis road course in August, and has never run in the wet on a short track . . . the Trucks have run this wet weather tire in competition at both the Martinsville and North Wilkesboro ovals this season . . . 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 —
