Goodyear takes back 23 unused tires from teams

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Goodyear takes back 23 unused tires from teams

FONTANA, Calif. ? Goodyear officials took 23 unused tires from the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series garages that showed signs of thin tread at Auto Club Speedway.

After Sprint Cup practice Friday, Goodyear officials saw three tires with a small patch of localized, rapid tread wear. They then asked Goodyear technicians in Akron, Ohio, to re-examine the X-rays of the 2,000 right-side tires that were brought to the track with a more thorough look at the area where those other tires had shown the thin tread, Goodyear global racing tire manager Stu Grant said Saturday. The X-rays are originally done so technicians can look for foreign particles or other abnormalities in the tires after they come off the production line.

Following the examinations Friday, the engineers saw possible signs of a similar problem in 19 tires sold to teams in the Cup garage and four sold to teams in the Nationwide garage this weekend. Goodyear asked that those tires be return and replaced them.

?I don?t have any explanation other than we have a localized area of light tread in some of the right-side tires,? Grant said. ?There?s something going on with the manufacturing. It?s got that light [tread] area that is a little off-center of the center of the tire.

?So just to be sure [we took them back]. ? There?s nothing wrong with it except it?s a little thinner than it should be.?

The right-side tires are new for Auto Club Speedway, host of Sunday's Auto Club 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, but have been used at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.

There were no issues during Sprint Cup practice Saturday.

 

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Roush Fenway?s Carl Edwards has Erik Darnell on standby but plans to race

Roush Fenway?s Carl Edwards has Erik Darnell on standby but plans to race

Roush Fenway?s Carl Edwards has Erik Darnell on standby but plans to race

FONTANA, Calif. ? Roush Fenway Racing?s Carl Edwards has Erik Darnell on standby in case Edwards needs to fly home and be with his pregnant wife, Kate, but said being out in California at a track where the driver can make a big difference likely would keep him from making the approximately four-hour flight home.

Edwards? wife was due Wednesday but the couple is still waiting for the child to be born. Darnell will be on standby for both the NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup series races this weekend at Auto Club Speedway.

?Erik is here and that?s the plan,? Edwards said. ?The deal is we?re so far from home, and the travel time would be so much, that most likely I would just stay here. There would be small windows where I could maybe go home, but Erik is here.?

Edwards said he would find it more difficult to get out of the seat of the car for the race on the 2-mile track than at Daytona last week.

?It would be more difficult to leave this race because the setup and the way I drive here, and the way [Cup crew chief] Bob [Osborne] and I have to work together, I think I?m a bigger factor in this race than I would have been at a race track like Daytona,? Edwards said. ?That?s not to say Erik wouldn?t do as good or better job than I could do, but I think it would be a bigger risk in the result to leave here during either of these races.?

While excited, Edwards is trying to be patient.

?We went to the doctor this week and they said everything just looks the same, so I guess we?re just kind of hanging out,? Edwards said. ?We?ve been doing lots of walking and ate some spicy foods ? everything they say to do ? so we?re just waiting. I?m really excited about it.?

 

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Mark Martin sets pace in final Cup practice at Auto Club Speedway

Mark Martin sets pace in final Cup practice at Auto Club Speedway

Mark Martin sets pace in final Cup practice at Auto Club Speedway

FONTANA, Calif. ? Mark Martin wrapped up Saturday?s practice sessions for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with the fastest lap at Auto Club Speedway as teams put the final touches on their cars heading into Sunday?s race.

Martin, second-fastest in the day?s earlier session, posted a fast lap of 181.726 mph during the 65-minute shakedown in his Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet.

Fellow Chevrolet driver Clint Bowyer (Richard Childress Racing) was No. 2 on the board at 180.895 mph.

Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports), Jamie McMurray (Earnhardt Ganassi Racing) and Jeff Gordon (Hendrick) completed the top five.

McMurray, coming off a win in last week?s Daytona 500, captured the pole a day earlier for Sunday?s Auto Club 500.

Rounding out the top 10 were the cars of Jeff Burton, Brian Vickers, Juan Pablo Montoya, Denny Hamlin and Scott Speed.

The Auto Club 500, the second stop for NASCAR?s Sprint Cup Series, is scheduled for a 3 p.m EST start.

 

[Lumi]

Defending series champ Jimmie Johnson paces early practice at Auto Club Speedway

Defending series champ Jimmie Johnson paces early practice at Auto Club Speedway

Defending series champ Jimmie Johnson paces early practice at Auto Club Speedway

FONTANA, Calif. ? Jimmie Johnson, a four-time winner at Auto Club Speedway, paced Saturday?s opening practice session for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver had a fast lap of 182.537 mph during the 45-minute effort as teams prepare for Sunday?s Auto Club 500.

Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin was second fastest (182.182 mph), and was followed by Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Roush Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle.

Cup teams have one final practice, scheduled to begin at 3:45 Eastern.

Completing the top 10 in the first session were Juan Pablo Montoya (Earnhardt Ganassi Racing), Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports), Kasey Kahne (Richard Petty Motorsports), Clint Bowyer (Richard Childress Racing) and Kurt Busch (Penske Racing).

Pole winner Jamie McMurray, who won last week?s Daytona 500, was 28th fastest.