Denny Hamlin explains surprising tire wear outcome at Watkins Glen
Tire-wear was the name of the game heading into Watkins Glen, but the way his boots reacted over the weekend surprised Denny Hamlin.
Due to a myriad of factors, the tire fall-off wasn’t as volatile as originally expected in New York. On the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin tried to make sense of why the tires reacted differently in practice than they did during the race on Sunday afternoon.
“Once you put 36 cars out on the race track, and all of them have the same tires, it fills in the pores of the race track, and then it stops wearing,” Hamlin explained. “It just seems like, whatever there is in practice, the wear just gets 30% better, or whatever it may be, 50% better. Certainly, they went longer, they lasted longer on race day than they did during practice, and I’m sure they lasted longer than what they did during the test. So, it just shows that NASCAR, Goodyear can get even more aggressive.
“I liked the tire, at least did drop off some. It did have some fall-off. So, it is possible. We thought for the longest time, Goodyear always used to tell us, ‘It’s the surface of the track. If the surface of the track isn’t a certain type, it’s not going to wear.’ We clearly know now they are capable of building a tire that does create wear. So, this was definitely a win for us to try this, and it certainly shows how much more aggressive they can possibly get, and hopefully take this to other race tracks.”
As one of the best at managing tires, Hamlin certainly would’ve preferred some more fall-off, so it’s understandable why he’d like Goodyear to be more aggressive moving forward. Still, it wouldn’t have mattered much on Sunday, as Hamlin was involved in some wrecks on his way to a disappointing finish.
The performance was the latest in a string of tough luck finishes for Hamlin’s No. 11 team. Ever since they were hit with a demoralizing penalty for something completely out of their control, it seems like the sky has been falling for Hamlin.
Moving forward, Denny Hamlin is -6 points below the cut-off for the Round of 12. With Watkins Glen in the rear-view mirror, the veteran wheelman will be looking to utilize his skill with managing his tires at Bristol once again this weekend, and end up one step closer to his first Cup Series title.