Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials
Set limits: Cup: 3 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 8 sets for race; Xfinity: 7 sets for the event
Tire Codes: Left-side — D-4842; Right-side — D-4796
Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,227 mm (87.68 in.); Right-side — 2,253 mm (88.70 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 22 psi; Left Rear — 22 psi; Right Front — 54 psi; Right Rear — 50 psi
Storyline – Action is hot on The Strip, but cool on the track: One of the great things about the NASCAR schedule is that from week to week, teams must be prepared for a wide variety of racing conditions – from speedway to short track, concrete to asphalt and high banks to flat tracks. This early stretch of the schedule proves that, even though teams were on a mile-and-a-half track last week and will be so again this week. The difference is that Atlanta Motor Speedway is likely the most abrasive track surface upon which the three NASCAR premier series race, and one that wears tires to the tune of three seconds per lap over the course of a fuel run, while Las Vegas Motor Speedway does not wear tires much at all. That presents a challenge for Goodyear to bring tread compounds that can wear sufficiently and dissipate heat to help the tires run cooler and at a more optimum level.
“Since the track surface at Las Vegas has proven over the years to be one that generates minimal tire wear, we have made a change to our tire recommendation for this weekend’s races,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “What we did was – in addition to introducing a construction update to this left-side tire – is go to a right-side tire that we have already run on some of the smoother track surfaces on the circuit, like Michigan and Texas. Excessive heat is really the enemy of a race tire and tire performance. On surfaces that don’t naturally promote wear, it is important to design a tire that can handle and dissipate that heat, and this right-side utilizes a tread compound formulation which does that.”
Notes – New tire set-up for both Cup, Xfinity at Las Vegas: Teams in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series will run a completely different tire set-up than those in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Las Vegas this week . . . this is the first time these teams have raced on this left-side tire code, though they did run this right-side code at both Michigan and Texas in 2018 . . . compared to last year at Las Vegas, this left-side tire features a construction update that Goodyear will be rolling out at many tracks this season . . . this right-side moves Cup and Xfinity teams to a single tread compound tire, as compared to the multi-zone tread tire they ran at Las Vegas last year . . . this tire combination was confirmed by Cup teams at a NASCAR organizational test at Las Vegas on January 31-February 1 . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run liners in all four tire positions at Las Vegas . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
