NASCAR insiders explain expectations for tire fall-off at Bristol playoff race
Ahead of the final race of the Round of 16 at Bristol Motor Speedway, NASCAR insiders Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi gave their expectations regarding the tire fall-off for this weekend.
During the latest episode of The Teardown, the pair from The Athletic elaborated on why they think Bristol will be a wild race, relaying that there isn’t anyone who truly knows how the event will shake-out this time around after the wild race that was in the spring.
“Let’s talk about the tire for a second, because this is one of the great NASCAR mysteries of the moment,” Gluck explained. “You all remember that the spring Bristol race this year supposedly had the same tire as last fall’s Bristol race, where there wasn’t really much tire-wear at all. And of course, everybody gets there in the spring, and there’s this crazy amount of tire-wear. Everybody’s like, ‘What’s going on? What’s happening?’ The conclusion at the time, sort of the conventional wisdom was, ‘Oh, it must be the temperatures, the temperatures are colder now, right?’ That makes sense. It must be that these tires are so sensitive, and there has to be this little window.
“Great, except they went back for a tire test, and I believe they did this on a day that was in the 90s, so it wasn’t cool like in the spring, and according to the people from the tire tests, it was a similar amount of fall-off. Like, the tires were still doing that. So, I asked people this weekend — I don’t get it. They don’t get it either. Nobody gets it. So, the expectation is that it may be similar to the spring race, which would be crazy, but as we saw here today, maybe not. I don’t really think anybody knows what we’re getting from the tires.
“I asked Denny [Hamlin] for his theory, and he said — put your tin foil hat on, he thinks that maybe they changed the mixture. Maybe that’s what it is, and they haven’t figured out what did it yet, but yeah, I mean, certainly — it doesn’t logically make sense that, I mean, of course, Goodyear’s saying it’s the same tire, but if it’s nothing else has changed and the temperature is not the factor, then who knows? If that is the case, and nobody, I don’t really think anybody actually knows, until they get there and start practicing and running right? Nobody knows what kind of Bristol race we’re gonna see. That’s crazy.”
For a playoff race, let alone the cut-off race for the Round of 12, Bristol’s tire-wear will certainly make a huge difference in who makes it to the next round, and that has Bianchi excited to see what ends up happening in Tennessee.
“This, to me, is why it’s gonna be so exciting on Saturday,” Bianchi added. “Like, you go in there and you look at this, and there’s gonna be guys, you go, ‘They’re going to be safe. They just gotta stay out of trouble.’ You know, top 15-ish, you know, they’ll be fine, top 20. You don’t know. You don’t know what your tires are going to be. Who knows? Wild. Can’t wait.
“This round has, I mean — Atlanta wasn’t what we thought. (Watkins-Glen) was terrific. I think Bristol’s gonna be great. This round has, so far, been what we thought it was going to be.”
While the drivers near the cut-line would love to know how the tire will react at Bristol, the intrigue level for Saturday’s race continues to rise, as the stakes and uncertainty grow ahead of the final race of the Round of 16.