Well, Wasn't That Boring?

By Mark Young

Just last week I was sitting at home recording my weekly radio show U Want Some? complimenting NASCAR and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for, what I believe, was one of the best races I had seen in a long time.  I went on to say how excited I was for Atlanta with her high banked turns and super-wide racing groove to welcome the new era of NASCAR and the COT.  Atlanta, I went on to say, is one of my favorite tracks and should surely garnish another thrilling victory.  I was never so wrong in my life!!

That was the WORST race I have seen at Atlanta since they reconfigured the track into it's current form back in 1997.  Then there was only one groove because the pavement was new, and the racing resembled a parade.  Speeds were blistering and so were the tires, causing several very hard impacts to the wall, Steve Park in particular if I recall.

Now choosing a tire compound to fit certain situations has got to be like trying to tell a person's fortune while reading their e-mail.......impossible.  But isn't that what test sessions are for?  Didn't NASCAR have a mandatory COT test last fall?  Didn't Good Year have another test after that to get another look at tire data?  To Good Year's credit they brought a very durable tire to Atlanta, we didn't have any blown tires going into the corners ala Tony Stewart or Kurt Bush in Vegas, but it is hard to blow a tire when it came off of Fred Flintstone's car......rocks.

It was "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation for Good Year.  If they brought a tire similar to that used in Vegas the speeds would have been much higher, the racing much closer, and the fabricators in the race shops would be busier than heck building new cars after blown tires totaled several new cars.  BUT ISN'T THAT WHY THESE GUYS RACE?  To go fast, pass people, take risks........I thought so at least.

One thing that I am glad happened at Atlanta on Sunday was simple......nobody got hurt, I don't want to see anyone get messed up in an accident.  However, I think Good Year was not prepared for Atlanta and we the fans were forced to suffer.  Perhaps the tires would have reacted better if it weren't 40 degrees out.  Perhaps they could have chosen a softer compound to let these do what they do best......race.

I am glad I don't work for Good Year.  I don't envy the decisions they have to make regarding the safety of their product either.  But I can guarantee you that if I were Competition Director for NASCAR I would be on the phone to my "exclusive" tire provider and tell them that if they have another issue like that they had better get their resume polished because I would be looking elsewhere to get tires for my sport.