Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials
Set limits: Cup: 3 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 12 sets for the race; Xfinity: 7 sets for the event
Tire Codes: Left-side — D-4844; Right-side — D-4682
Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,227 mm (87.68 in.); Right-side — 2,245 mm (88.39 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 19 psi; Left Rear — 19 psi; Right Front — 50 psi; Right Rear — 47 psi
Storyline – High-wear surface makes Atlanta a pit-stop-a-palooza: Atlanta is known for its extremely worn surface, long, sweeping turns and high speeds. It is also the one track at which teams are most likely to pit short of their fuel window to take advantage of fresh tires. NASCAR Cup teams will have 12 sets of tires for the race, which means that team pit stops will play a big part of the equation. An historical note – Atlanta was the first NASCAR track at which Goodyear’s multi-zone tread technology was used back in 2013, and it remains a multi-zone tread track to this day.
“Two things are sure about Atlanta Motor Speedway – first, it is an extremely worn track surface which is very hard on tires; and second, the racing there has been consistently entertaining,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “This is the first race with NASCAR’s new rules package, and teams will have more downforce than they did a year ago, to go along with a reduction in horsepower. With the track surface, fresh rubber will be at a premium, and the pit crews will be busy all day as teams take four tires on every stop.”
Notes – Cup, Xfinity teams debut new left-side tire at Atlanta: While teams in all three NASCAR Series will run the same right-side tire code at Atlanta this week, those in the Cup and Xfinity Series will run a different left-side code than those in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series . . . this is the first time these teams have run this left-side tire code . . . compared to what was run last year, this left-side features a construction update that will align Atlanta with what is run at other speedways . . . this right-side tire is a multi-zone tread tire, with a two-inch inboard compound designed for heat resistance and a 10-inch outboard compound to give more grip . . . this is the same right-side tire that Cup teams have run at Atlanta since 2016 and Xfinity teams since 2017 . . . Atlanta is the only track at which these teams are scheduled to run either of these two tire codes in 2019 . . . this tire set-up came out of a Goodyear test at Atlanta last October . . . teams (drivers) that participated in that test were Chip Ganassi Racing (Ross Chastain), Joe Gibbs Racing (Erik Jones), Penske Racing (Ryan Blaney) and Wood Brothers Racing (Paul Menard) . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run liners in all four tire positions at Atlanta . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
