“A huge win for the sport”: Joey Logano credits Goodyear tires in raising the bar of NASCAR racing

Joey Logano recently shared insights on the impact tire wear had at Watkins Glen, facilitating overtaking maneuvers. He noted that drivers, including himself, who opted to remain on older tires found themselves at a disadvantage compared to those who switched to new ones.

Goodyear had introduced a softer tire compound for Watkins Glen, designed to degrade more rapidly over a stint, thereby increasing the potential for strategic passing. This tire strategy, initially seen inadvertently at Bristol Motor Speedway during the spring race, proved beneficial for the drivers in the initial laps of a run.

Although primarily successful on short tracks, Joey Logano affirmed that the new tire formulation also delivered a great performance at the Watkins Glen International road course. He commented:

"I don't know if anyone would have passed anybody if it wasn't for people on different strategies and tires' difference. Because even with 15 lap newer tires it still was very challenging to make the passes. So, I think that Tire Fall was a huge win for the sport."

"It definitely, you know, threw in different options, like you even look at what we did in the end of the second stage, and we decided to stay out on old tires and cars behind us had new tires and we fell back to 11th."

Joey Logano also stated that a better restart could have altered his race outcome at Watkins Glen. Starting from the seventh position, the #22 navigated the track to conclude Stage 1 in seventeenth place, improving to third by the end of Stage 2. However, despite these efforts, he ultimately fell back, finishing the race in fifteenth place.

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Denny Hamlin shared his perspective on Goodyear tire wear, diverging slightly from Joey Logano's assessment

While Joey Logano, lauded the strategic benefits of the Softer tires and their wear and tear introduced by Goodyear, Denny Hamlin noted that the positive effects of tire wear diminished as the race progressed. He commented that the accumulation of rubber on the track from the tires reduced wear over time.

Speaking on Actions Detrimental, Hamlin explained,

"Once you put 36 cars out on the race track, and all of them have the same tires, it fills in the pores of the race track, and then it stops wearing. [...] Whatever there is in practice, the wear just gets 30% better, or whatever it may be, 50% better." [at 36:58]

"Certainly, they went longer, they lasted longer on race day than they did during practice, and I’m sure they lasted longer than what they did during the test. So, it just shows that NASCAR, Goodyear can get even more aggressive."

While Hamlin’s disappointing finish at Watkins Glen relegated him to P13 in the playoff standings, Joey Logano maintained a leading position following his victory in Atlanta.