NASCAR news: Tony Stewart takes on Goodyear over his tires

TONY STEWART (Courtesy NASCAR)

Truckers Connection

4/2/2008

Last month sparked some heated remarks regarding the tires that Goodyear supplied for the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS). Not alone in his opinion but certainly the most vocal was Tony Stewart, who said Goodyear gave him “the most pathetic racing tire I’ve ever seen in my professional career.”

In turn, the Akron-based 100-plus year old tire manufacturer issued a statement defending the tires brought to AMS: “We provided what we believed were the best possible products for the races. We believe that our engineering, research and tire development is second to none. We accept that drivers will have their own opinions about tires. Even though both Goodyear and NASCAR were satisfied with the tire’s performance in Atlanta, if the drivers are not happy, then Goodyear’s not happy.”

Goodyear has also said it will not bring the same tire to the similarly-set up Texas Motor Speedway on April 6. However, the company did call Stewart’s claims that the manufacturer had been “run out of” Formula One, CART, the IRL, World of Outlaws sprint cars and USAC divisions “because they couldn’t keep up and make a quality enough product,” saying that the remark was an “erroneous comment.” Instead, Goodyear said it decided to leave other racing series because of “escalating costs of competition.”

Toyota captures first Cup win

For the first time since 1954, a foreign manufacturer captured a win in the Cup Series when Kyle “Rowdy” Busch saw the checkered flag wave on March 9 in Atlanta. The last time it happened, it was a Jaguar claiming the win. Whew, it was a completely different world then.

After its initial season in 2007, facing a skeptical true-to-its-roots American fan base, Toyota struggled mightily.

With six drivers attempting 193, they missed 84 of them, and for the year, the best finish occurred once: a third place finish by Dave Blaney at Talladega Superspeedway.

This year is already proving to be a completely different ballgame, particularly with headlining team Joe Gibbs Racing converting to Toyotas.

5th annual NASCAR Day celebrated on May 16

For the fifth year, NASCAR participants and fans will be joining together in support of a family of charities by celebrating NASCAR Day. For a $5 donation, fans can be a part of the spirit and will received their own NASCAR Day pin. “Crew chiefs” can sign up their own organizations and receive a NASCAR Day participation kit that contains all the information needed to successfully celebrate NASCAR Day.

To become a NASCAR Day crew chief or just to donate and get a pin for yourself, check out www.nascar.com/foundation. A few of the worthy charities who benefit from your support include The Dale Earnhardt Foundation, Formula Smiles Foundation, The Jeff Gordon Foundation, Kyle Petty Charity Ride, Racing 4 Literacy, Victory Junction Gang Camp and The Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation.

Coke Zero 400 logo determined by fans

For its inaugural Sprint Cup race at the Daytona International Speedway in July, Coca-Cola wanted to involve the fans in a big way by allowing them to select the official logo for the race. An online voting contest was held beginning with the 50th running of the Daytona 500. At NASCAR.com, fans voted among two options. Almost 40,000 votes determined this very close race. Winning by just 51 percent, the chosen logo incorporates the shape of the Daytona Speedway and features Coke Zero’s red, black and white colors, including a black and white checkerboard on a Coke bottle in the center.

The debut of the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola is part of a new 10-year sponsorship agreement between Coca-Cola North America and International Speedway Corp.