THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 23, 1995 TAG: 9502230441
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Who's to blame for the Goodyear tire shortage in last Sunday's Daytona 500?
It would appear that Goodyear significantly underestimated the number of tires it would need. And, the teams used too many in practice.
Consider the mathematics. Goodyear had 3,200 tires at Daytona, according to Leo Mehl, the firm's racing director. That's 800 sets. Each team is allowed to use three sets before and during qualifying. Because 57 cars made qualifying runs and each team presumably could afford three sets (at $1,200 a set), that's 171 sets right there.
That leaves 629 sets to be divided among the 42 starters - slightly fewer than 15 sets per team, to cover two additional days of practice and the race. Last year, some teams had 15 or 16 sets just for races.
``We brought more tires here than last year,'' Mehl said. ``But there was a lot more testing with the new (Chevrolet) Monte Carlos.''
Mehl said the tire had been produced last fall and Goodyear was not in a position to make more on short notice.
When the crisis erupted during Sunday's race, NASCAR short-circuited the usual free-enterprise system that controls the reallocation of tires from cars that drop out. Although NASCAR and Goodyear assumed control of distributing the extra sets, there were no apparent cries of foul play.
Geoff Bodine, who as Hoosier's only winning driver last year could have been a target for discrimination, said he received his fair share.
``We ended up with enough somehow,'' he said. ``But that isn't the way you should do it.''
NASCAR's Les Richter said that at Rockingham this weekend each team will get its normal three sets before qualifying.
After time trials, Winston Cup director Gary Nelson ``will control the mounting of tires with each team getting an equal number,'' he said.
NEW GRAND PRIX: The new NASCAR version of the 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix went into wind-tunnel testing this week, and Michael Waltrip will test it for the first time at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 13.
Look for Pontiac soon to begin trying to recruit new teams for 1996. Pontiac made a big play for Ricky Rudd in 1995, for instance, and there's no reason to think it won't give it another try this year.
BACK TO THE ROCK: Time trials for Sunday's Goodwrench 500 begin at 2 p.m. Friday. The Goodwrench 200 Grand National race is at 1 p.m. Saturday, and the five-hour Winston Cup marathon begins at 12:30 p.m. Sunday. by CNB