NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 13 — 400 laps / 400 miles
NASCAR Xfinity Series — Race No. 10 — 200 laps / 200 miles
Dover International Speedway (1.0-mile oval) — Dover, Del.
Fast Facts for May 15-16, 2021
Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials
Set limits:
Cup: 9 sets for the race;
Xfinity: 4 sets for the race
Tire Codes:
Left-side — D-4928;
Right-side — D-4968
Tire Circumference:
Left-side — 2,225 mm (87.60 in.);
Right-side — 2,252 mm (88.66 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 18 psi; Left Rear — 18 psi;
Right Front — 49 psi; Right Rear — 45 psi
Storyline — Right up front about right-fronts at Dover: There are a number of factors about racing at Dover International Speedway that come together and all mean one thing for NASCAR teams — running Goodyear‘s minimum recommended right-front air pressure is important. With Dover being one mile in length, teams will run NASCAR‘s short track package with higher horsepower and lower downforce. That, along with the steep banking at the track, combine for high speeds and high loads on the right-front of the car. If teams run below the recommended pressure level, they risk damaging the right-front tire to the point of air loss. The other obvious feature of Dover is the concrete surface. The right-side tread compound that Goodyear brings to the track is designed to specifically lay rubber on the surface.
“Dover poses several obvious challenges for us and the race teams,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear‘s director of racing. “In addition to the concrete surface, the high banks and high horsepower put an emphasis on the importance of air pressures. Getting aggressive on air pressures is definitely a way to gain grip, but that also carries a certain amount of risk. We added some grip to the left-side tire we bring to Dover for last season, and that has proven to help teams get the grip they need while helping protect the right-front position. Dover really highlights something that we do every week, and that is how our engineers work with the teams. Not only do we provide data to help them get to the right decision, but we will be on pit road all race to look at tires as they come off the cars and talk about anything we see in real time.”
Notes — Goodyear returns to Dover on 2020 tire set-up: Teams in NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series will run the same tire set-up at Dover this weekend . . . this is same combination of left- and right-side tires that these teams ran at this track in 2020 . . . these teams have run left-side tire code at Homestead and Darlington already this season, and will run it at Pocono in June . . . this is right-side tire code will be run at Nashville in June . . . Dover is unique among NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length, in that inner liners are required on all four tire positions . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
— Goodyear Racing —
