JGR's veteran driver Denny Hamlin calls for transparency over Goodyear tire wear issues post-Bristol race

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin won the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The 500-lap event at the half-mile oval was blighted by excessive tire wear, leaving NASCAR's official tire supplier Goodyear scrambling to allocate extra tire sets to each team.

The unforeseen levels of tire degradation accidentally created a classic short-track show, breaking the record for the most lead changes at a short track (54). Despite the overall success of the event, there were plenty of unanswered questions concerning the high tire wear.

Race winner Denny Hamlin initially suspected that Goodyear's new tire composition caused the tire wear, and called upon the Akron, Ohio-based company, to uncover the reasons behind the high tire wear on the concrete oval.

The 43-year-old expressed his plea to the company, as he believes this could turn into NASCAR's biggest learning opportunity. In the latest episode of his podcast Actions Detrimental, he said:

"I have this plea to whoever was responsible for the mixture of the Goodyear tires. Don’t try to cover it up. Whoever’s in charge at Goodyear needs to go and say ‘Okay, we’re not firing anyone, we just want to know what happened.’ Because I believe this could be the biggest teaching moment in the history of NASCAR."

He continued:

"They put something in there they were not supposed to. They put too much of something in this mixture that screwed it all up... They mixed something with a mixture of this rubber, that is not the same as what they brought before and we need to identify what it is. We just need to put a slightly lower dose."

Contrary to Denny Hamlin's speculation, Goodyear's director of racing, Greg Stucker, claimed that they had brought the same tire composition, which they ran in the fall race last year. Stucker added that the only difference was the track conditions, as NASCAR had sprayed resin on the lower grove, instead of PJ1.

This led the #11 Toyota driver to speculate that the track temperatures were the reason behind the tire wear. John Probst, NASCAR's SVP, also believes the resin and the track temperatures influenced the tire wear.

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Denny Hamlin elaborates on driver's role in challenging Bristol race

The 52-time NASCAR Cup Series winner was proud of his most recent victory, as he believed the driver played the most influential role in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Denny Hamlin suggested that the unique track circumstances forced drivers to rely on technique rather than racing flat out on every lap. He said in the post-race interview (via speedwaydigest.com):

"This is the first time the driver played a huge role in a long, long time. Long time. It's a different philosophy from what we're used to, which is everyone is just kind of on the gas all the time running the bottom, the shortest way around...Technique was a huge deal today."

The veteran drivers rose to the top, with Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., and Brad Keselowski claiming the top three positions.