Is it my imagination or are tires becoming a real issue this season? It is getting…NO it is to the point where almost every week a tire unexpectedly goes down, puts someone into the wall, and then they proceed to either lose the race or involve way too many other drivers.

I am absolutely sick of tire failure causing all of these wrecks and dictating race winners. There are too many variables to deal with in racing already and bad tires should not be another.  Ask Joe Nemechek what he thinks about Goodyear tires this year. He had a half track lead with less than 10 laps to go (tires should not have been an issue) and boooooom into the wall because a tire went down. At Chicagoland tire problems put Kasey Kahne into the wall, Jimmie Johnson had a tire go down (causing him to go down a lap) and these drivers did not have a lot of laps on their tires. Goodyear’s comment on the subject “they would have to bring a better tire next year to Chicagoland” that’s nice but what about all the other races! Granted there were a lot of tire problems at Chicagoland but tire problems have been an issue all season long. Tires are playing more of a part in the out come of races than motors this year and that should not be the case.

I do not know how much, or even if Goodyear pays NASCAR to be the exclusive provider of tires, but whatever the deal is it is not working and the quality of racing is being hurt! I have always been taught that whenever a method of doing business adversely affects the product you are selling you change that method. NASCAR lets car owners pick drivers, cars, motors, transmissions and rear ends perhaps they should let them pick tires too. Maybe next year Nascar should bring a better tire maker.

If Goodyear's performance at the Nascar tracks this year are any indication, riding on the Wings of Goodyear could be hazardous to your health.

Steve

The above ranting is mine and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of  Nascar Cheat Sheet.com staff or its sponsors.