Goodyear Fast Facts — Las Vegas

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In: NASCAR Cup Series News

NASCAR Cup Series — Race No. 33 – 267 laps / 400.5 miles

Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval) – Las Vegas, Nev.

Fast Facts for October 15-16, 2022

Tire: Goodyear Eagle 18-inch Speedway Radials

Set limits: Cup: 1 set for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 9 sets for the race

     (8 race sets plus 1 set transferred from qualifying)

Tire Codes: Left-side — D-5186; Right-side — D-5190 

Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,263 mm (89.09 in.); Right-side — 2,279 mm (89.72 in.)

Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 20 psi; Left Rear — 22 psi;

     Right Front — 50 psi; Right Rear — 46 psi

Storyline – Air pressure: It’s not just for mechanical grip anymore: As the sport has learned and worked with the Next Gen car, NASCAR Cup Series teams have developed the tuning tools that make their cars go faster.  Out of the box, shock and camber settings were used in combination with air pressures in the tires to gain mechanical grip.  With a clear balance shift to the rear versus the previous generation car, Next Gen’s diffuser became a key part in the tuning process.  Teams have found that getting the rear of the car down closer to the track and sealed off enables the diffuser to create more rear downforce, which results in more speed.  That brings the conversation back to air pressure settings in the rear tires.  The lower the air, the lower the rear end of the car can be to take advantage of that.  What that means, however, is that less air allows for more deflection or flex in the sidewall of the rear tires.  Over-deflection breaks down the components in the tire and often leads to air loss.

     “This has been an exciting year of change for NASCAR as we all work with the Next Gen car,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing.  “We understood very early on the balance of this car was directed much more to the rear than previous, and as set-ups have continued to evolve over the season, the benefits of maximizing the effectiveness of the rear diffuser have become apparent, particularly on the speedways.  These set-ups, obviously, can have a significant impact on tires, so integrating the latest information from the teams and OEMs into our predictive simulations is critical.  Those simulations enable us to provide the teams with the key tire information each week to make informed decisions and responsibly get maximum performance out of the tires at Las Vegas this week and moving forward.”

Notes – Cup cars on different tire set-up than earlier race at Las Vegas: Having moved to an 18-inch bead diameter tire for 2022, NASCAR Cup teams will run a different tire set-up than those in the Xfinity Series at Las Vegas this week . . . this is a different combination of left- and right-side tires than Cup ran at Las Vegas in March . . . compared to that earlier weekend, this tire set-up features construction changes to both sides of the car . . . Cup teams have run this same set-up at Kansas-2 and Texas-2 recently . . . with this 18-inch tire, and its lower profile sidewall, NASCAR Cup cars will not run inner liners in any of their tires in 2022.

Follow us on Twitter: @GoodyearRacing.

 

GOODYEAR TIRE NOTES

NASCAR Xfinity Series – Race No. 30 – 200 laps / 300 miles

Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval) – Las Vegas, Nev.

Fast Facts for October 14-15, 2022

Tire: Goodyear Eagle 15-inch Speedway Radials

Set limits: Xfinity: 6 sets for the event

Tire Codes: Left-side — D-6110; Right-side — D-6112

Tire Circumference: Left-side — 2,225 mm (87.60 in.); Right-side — 2,250 mm (88.58 in.)

Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front — 19 psi; Left Rear — 19 psi;

     Right Front — 52 psi; Right Rear — 48 psi

Notes – Sixth race on Las Vegas tire set-up for Xfinity teams: Being on 15-inch bead diameter tires, Xfinity teams will run a different tire set-up than those in the Cup Series at Las Vegas this weekend . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires these teams ran at Las Vegas in March . . . Xfinity teams also ran this tire set-up at Kansas, Michigan and twice at Texas this season . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, Xfinity 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.

Follow us on Twitter: @GoodyearRacing.

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