Set limits: Cup: 3 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 9 sets for the race (8 race sets plus 1 set transferred from qualifying or practice); Xfinity: 6 sets for the event; Gander RV & Outdoors Truck: 5 sets for the event
Tire Codes: Left-side — D-4842; Right-side — D-4796
Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,224 mm (87.56 in.); Right-side — 2,252 mm (88.66 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 19 psi; Left Rear — 19 psi; Right Front — 52 psi; Right Rear — 48 psi
Storyline – Smooth track can still mean cool tire temps: The track surface at this week’s stop on the NASCAR schedule – Las Vegas Motor Speedway – does not naturally wear tires. Because of that, to control the amount of heat that builds up with running at race speeds, Goodyear designs the tread compounds it brings to Las Vegas to wear a little quicker. As race tires shed rubber, it allows heat to dissipate through the tread, keeping the tires cooler and better able to run at optimum performance. One other factor this week compared to last season’s races at Las Vegas is that Goodyear integrated construction updates to both its left- and right-side tires. That enabled Goodyear to lower its minimum recommended air pressures on the left-side from 22 psi to 19 psi, meaning teams will have an extra tuning tool to be able to enhance grip levels.
“The track surface at Las Vegas is one that generates minimal tire wear so we have to design our tread compounds to account for that,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “Excessive heat is the enemy of a race tire and tire performance. On track surfaces that don’t naturally promote wear, it’s important to design a tire that can wear quicker and dissipate that heat. This tire set-up, specifically this right-side tire, utilizes a tread compound formulation which does that.”
Notes – New tire set-ups across the board at Las Vegas: Teams in all three national NASCAR series will run the same tire set-up at Las Vegas this week . . . this is the first time these teams have raced on either of these two Goodyear tire codes . . . for Cup and Xfinity teams, compared to what they ran at Las Vegas last year, both this left- and right-side tire feature construction updates to align with what is run at other speedways . . . for the Trucks, they will race on that same construction update, but also have compound changes to both sides (higher wear and more grip) compared to what they ran in 2019 . . . 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.
