Joey Logano is a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion. His voice matters. He shares it every week on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. During his April 23 appearance on “The Morning Drive,” the Team Penske driver talked about the sport’s latest hot topic of conversation — Talladega and how superspeedways have become fuel-mileage races.
After discussing a variety of potential solutions, including push-to-pass similar to what is used in IndyCar, the possibility of using different tire compounds like F1 and IndyCar was introduced into the discussion.
“The different tire compound thing can make a difference throughout a race if it’s longer than what the All-Star Race is, right?” Logano said, referring to the race in 2017 where that specific tire format was implemented. “Like if you have a bunch of stages throughout it and you say, ‘Man, you know what, this is our chance to go out there and win a stage. Let’s put those tires on now. Let’s take it now. Yeah, we’re going to pay the price later, but we’re going to go for the stage points now and try to pass some cars and get some stage points.’
“There’s some strategy options there. I think that would be a really cool thing to add to our races. But I don’t know on a short race, does it really make a difference? And it’s gotta be a big difference, right? Like, two-tenths of a second is not enough to do that. It’s gotta be a half-second or four-tenths — a lot to where you can drive through the field on your soft tires. And it’s got to fall off too. That would be the other part that’s cool, right?
“Like, if you have a tire that fires off four-tenths quicker, half a second quicker than the other tire, but 20 laps into the run, it’s a half-second slower than the other tire, and you have that. Oh man, that’d be so cool.
“Think about that. That would be the coolest. And you’d see cars with the hard tire on versus the soft tire. That would be sweet. To me, it feels a little La-La Land. I don’t know if that’s really going to happen. My little dream world, but boy, it’s fun to dream sometimes.”
Joey Logano’s ‘Dream’ Already in Process of Being Addressed Based on Remarks by Goodyear
Joey Logano talked about NASCAR possibly using different tire compounds as a far-fetched idea, or a “dream.” Interestingly, according to Goodyear Director of Racing Greg Stucker, it’s not as far-fetched as Logano or anyone else might think.
“We tried an option tire several years back for the All-Star in 2017,” Stucker told Beating and Banging. “And, you know what happened was, for us, I think it was successful.
“The split that we wanted to create, in agreement, was about three-tenths. Okay, we want the option tire to be about three-tenths faster than the prime. And it was, in the daytime. Then we got to nighttime and the race, and that gap narrowed. So then, it didn’t become as big of an advantage, right? But we have discussed that. So it is an option. It is something that’s been placed on the table.”
NASCAR Announces Joey Logano and Teams Will Use Multiple Compounds in 2024 All-Star Race
An option on the table.
During the April 23 “NASCAR Race Hub,” it was revealed that it’s no longer an option but a reality as NASCAR announced that it will be implementing the use of multiple tire compounds in next month’s All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro.
Teams will have two sets of “prime” tires or the standard slicks used during a tire test at North Wilkesboro last month, and two sets of “option” tires, or slicks that use the rubber from the wet-weather tires NASCAR has used on short tracks and road courses. The wet tires will also be available in case of wet conditions as was the case in last year’s event.
The 200-lap race will include a caution at Lap 100 where teams are required to make a four-tire pit stop. There will be another caution on Lap 150 that is optional. What tires the teams use on their stops is at their discretion but they will be required to start the race with the option tire.
Logano’s dream is now a reality but it’s being tested on a short track. If it works, will it translate to the superspeedways? That’s yet to be determined but the fact that NASCAR and Goodyear have taken this aggressive approach with the tires for the All-Star Race is a good sign and hopefully will lead to some sort of progress toward finding the solution for the problematic tracks in the future.
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