ATLANTA—Goodyear has adapted its "multi-zone" tread technology used in a number of its street tires to the Eagle race tires it builds for NASCAR to produce a tire that the company expects to deliver enhanced traction and wear this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Goodyear said its Eagle race tire's multi-zone tread technology combines two rubber compounds in a single tread to face the conditions of one of NASCAR's "most demanding speedways." The tire will be used in this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races
"Atlanta is one of our biggest challenges from a tire perspective," said Stu Grant, Goodyear's general manager of worldwide racing.
"The abrasive track surface causes extremely high wear, while the length and layout promote very high speeds."
Goodyear said its engineers set out to develop a tire capable of offering both superior traction and wear. To accomplish this, its newest NASCAR tire uses two tread zones: an endurance zone on the tire's inside shoulder, while the outside two-thirds of the tread makes up the traction zone.
The Akron-based tire maker said it has tested the multi-zone tread tire several times over the past year, including in Atlanta earlier this month, where 13 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams put the tire through its paces.
"Teams were able to tune their cars to the tire and get the balance of the car right," Grant said. "Drivers seemed pleased with the performance during the test, and we expect similar results for the races this weekend."
Following this weekend's race in Atlanta, Goodyear said it will consider tires featuring a multi-zone tread for additional tracks on the NASCAR schedule.
This is the second notable example of how Goodyear has transferred street technology to its racing tires, according to the company. For the 2009 racing season, the tire maker introduced a wet weather radial for use in the NASCAR Nationwide Series that has a tread pattern based on the "street" Goodyear Eagle F1 All Season tire.