NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 7 — 400 laps / 300 miles Richmond Raceway (0.75-mile oval) — Richmond, Va.
Fast Facts for March 30-31, 2024
Tire: Goodyear Eagle 18-inch Speedway Radials
Set limits: Cup — 1 set 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-5208;
Right-side — D-5210
Tire Circumference:
Left-side — 2,249 mm (88.54 in.);
Right-side — 2,278 mm (89.69 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 12 psi; Left Rear — 12 psi;
Right Front — 30 psi; Right Rear — 26 psi
Storyline — Getting a gauge on more gage with short track package: NASCAR Cup teams will run their short track rules package at Richmond Raceway this weekend and Goodyear has moved to a tire with more gage (tread thickness) as part of that package. Thicker gage will keep more heat in the tire and increase lap-time fall-off over the course of a run. Richmond is also a high tire wear track, so that will also add to tire fall-off. That fall-off will lead to four-tire stops being the call on pit stops all day, making pit crews will be a major part of the race. Cup teams will have nine sets of tires for the 400 lap (300-mile) race, meaning teams can go an average of 44 laps on each set if they use all their tires.
“Richmond is the latest Cup short track race with the heavier gage tire that we first brought out at Martinsville last fall and continued with at Phoenix a few weeks ago,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear‘s director of racing. “That thicker tread, along with the fact that Richmond is a high wear track, will lead to a lot of fall-off over a run. Increasing fall-off is something we‘ve been working on, and is one of the elements of good racing. The more lap times fall off, the more ‘comers‘ and ‘goers‘ we see during a run and the more passing we have throughout the field.”
Notes — Cup cars on Phoenix tire set-up at Richmond: Being on 18-inch bead diameter tires, NASCAR Cup teams will run a different tire set-up than those in the Xfinity Series at Richmond this weekend . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that debuted for Cup teams at Phoenix earlier this month . . . this tire set-up is also scheduled to be run at Gateway and New Hampshire later in the season . . . compared to what these teams ran at Richmond last season, these tires feature more gage (tread thickness) . . . with this 18-inch tire, and its lower profile sidewall, NASCAR Cup cars will not run inner liners in any of their tires.
Wet Weather Tires — Goodyear bringing wet weather tires to Richmond: Goodyear will bring its 18-inch wet weather radial tires to Richmond for the Cup cars, should NASCAR determine that conditions warrant . . . Cup teams will have a maximum of 4 sets of wet weather tires for the event . . . NASCAR Cup teams last ran a wet weather tire in competition at the Chicago street course last July, and last ran it on a short track in the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro last 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. 6 — 250 laps / 187.5 miles Richmond Raceway (0.75-mile oval) — Richmond, Va.
Fast Facts for March 30, 2024
Tire: Goodyear Eagle 15-inch Speedway Radials
Set limits: Xfinity: 5 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 — 12 psi; Left Rear — 12 psi;
Right Front — 30 psi; Right Rear — 27 psi
Notes — Xfinity teams return to Richmond on established tire set-up: Being on 15-inch bead diameter tires, NASCAR Xfinity Series teams will run a different tire set-up than those in the Cup Series at Richmond this weekend . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires these teams have run at Richmond since the beginning of 2022 . . . they have run this tire set-up at New Hampshire and Phoenix over that time . . . as on most NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length, Xfinity teams will not run inner liners in their tires at Richmond.
Wet Weather Tires — White-lettered tires on hand at Richmond: Goodyear will bring its 15-inch wet weather radials to Richmond for use by Xfinity Series teams, should NASCAR decide that conditions warrant . . . teams will have 3 sets of wets available for the event . . . Xfinity teams last ran in wet conditions on the Indianapolis road course last August, and has not yet run in the wet on a short track . . . 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 —
