NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 17 — 300 laps / 399 miles
NASCAR Xfinity Series — Race No. 15 — 188 laps / 250 miles
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series — Race No. 12 — 150 laps / 199.5 miles
Nashville Superspeedway (1.33-mile oval) — Lebanon, Tenn.
Fast Facts for June 18-20, 2021
Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials
Set limits: Cup — 3 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 10 sets for the race
(9 race sets plus 1 set transferred from qualifying);
Xfinity: 6 sets for the event (maximum of 4 sets for the race);
Truck: 6 sets for the event (maximum of 5 sets for the race)
Tire Codes: Left-side — D-4942; 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 — 42 psi; Right Rear — 40 psi
Storyline — NASCAR returns to Nashville: Both the NASCAR Xfininty and Camping World Truck Series ran at Nashville Superspeedway between 2001-2011, but this weekend will mark the first race for the Cup Series on the 1.33-mile, concrete oval. Goodyear tested twice at the track in preparation for this weekend, the first time on a totally “green” race track and the second after some track prep had been done to get the surface more raceable. The key element to Goodyear‘s tire set-up this weekend will be the utilization of the Dover right-side tire. That tire has worked well on Dover‘s concrete surface for both Cup races at that facility in August 2020, as well as this May. The tread compound on this right-side is designed to lay rubber on concrete and create the opportunity for side-by-side racing. Since this track has not been on any NASCAR schedule in a decade, the sanctioning body has added practice and qualifying to the weekend. Teams will be able to adjust on their set-ups as the track takes rubber, starting with Truck and Xfinity practice on Friday and through the Cup race on Sunday.
“We were able to get to Nashville for a couple test sessions as we got a fresh look at the facility and track surface,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear‘s director of racing. “The first time we got on track, obviously the surface had not been raced on in some time so tire wear was fairly heavy. It was decided that the track could use some prep work to help the surface take rubber and create multiple grooves. We locked in on our tire set-up with known tire codes — the left-side that teams have run recently at both Kansas and Charlotte, with our Dover right-side. That right-side tire has proven to work very well on the concrete surface at Dover, and we expect much the same at Nashville.”
Notes — NASCAR teams to run Charlotte/Kansas left-side and Dover right-side at Nashville: Teams in all three NASCAR series will run the same tire set-up at Nashville this weekend . . . this left-side tire code is the one these teams have run at Charlotte and Kansas for since 2020 . . . this right-side code is the one NASCAR teams have also run at Dover over the last two seasons . . . this tire set-up came out of two Goodyear tire tests at Nashville this spring — March 23 and April 20 . . . teams and drivers participating in both of those tests were the No. Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with Kurt Busch, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with Chase Briscoe and No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with Christopher Bell . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run liners in all four tire positions at Nashville . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
