Goodyear pleased with IMS test

Goodyear officials left the Indianapolis Motor Speedway smiling Wednesday despite the rain which doused their last day of tire testing this week for the upcoming Brickyard 400 NASCAR race.

Throughout the test, several cars were able to make runs of more than 30 laps on the same set of tires, with some even running out of fuel on the track. A fuel stop at the two-and-a-half-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway is estimated at 32 laps.

“We are very pleased with the results of this week’s test at Indy,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of race tire sales. “The weather cooperated and gave us two days of hot, sunny conditions, just like we expect to see in late July. We were able to put rubber down on the track very quickly, and completed several full fuel runs, with tire wear, temperatures, and appearance all looking good. We believe we’re in good shape for our final confirmation test on June 15-16.”

While this week marked Goodyear’s sixth trip to IMS since last year’s Brickyard 400, the tire manufacturer’s work is not quite done. The final confirmation of the tire combination will take place in testing at the Speedway on June 15-16. Drivers and teams scheduled to participate in that 12-car test are Clint Bowyer (No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet); Kurt Busch (No. 2 Penske Dodge); Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota); Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet); Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge); Matt Kenseth (No. 17 Roush-Fenway Ford); Bobby Labonte (No. 96 Hall of Fame Racing Ford); Ryan Newman (No. 39 Stewart-Haas Chevrolet); David Reutimann (No. 00 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota); Reed Sorenson (No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge); Brian Vickers (No. 83 Red Bull Racing Toyota); and Michael Waltrip (No. 99 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota).