Firestone Racing leverages track input

AKRON—When it comes to racing, Bridgestone Americas Inc. has one focus only: to develop and make tires for the Verizon IndyCar Series.

And being able to concentrate solely on the open-wheel series is beneficial to the Race Tire Development unit of the firm's Firestone Racing program, according to one company official.

“We feel that partnering closely with that series is actually a strength from a tire development standpoint, and we work very closely with the series, the teams and the drivers,” said Dale Harrigle, currently the chief engineer and manager of race tire development.

Harrigle joined Bridgestone in 1992 and was in on the ground floor when the firm made its return to open-wheel racing in 1994. After 22 years in the program, though, he will be moving onto a management role in developing tires for Bridgestone's consumer tire replacement business when the 2016 IndyCar season ends after the race in Somona, Calif., on Sept. 18.

Because of the relationship between the tire maker and the series, he said, Firestone Racing uses feedback to determine what the teams and racers want in terms of performance and promoting the best racing for the fans.

“At the end of the day, we recognize that the tires say Firestone on the sidewall, so they are our responsibility,” Harrigle said. “But we do use feedback from (the) IndyCar series and the teams to help guide us in our general development decisions.”

All of the race tires—about 28,000 a year—are still made at the old Firestone Plant 1 in Akron, the same building that housed Bridgestone Americas technical center until the company opened a new one in 2012 at a site just down the road. It has been the sole tire supplier to the Indy series since 2000.

Over the years, Harrigle said as race cars have evolved, so have the tires they run on. For example, the vehicles have become more sophisticated and use more data acquisition in their operations. “The cars are very sensitive so we have to make sure our tires are quite consistent so the drivers don't feel a set-to-set variation,” he said.

On a year-to-year basis, he said the tires continue to get faster and have increased the amount of downforce generated. “We're constantly working with the teams to make sure we understand what the progression is going to be for next year's cars,” Harrigle said, “and make sure that our tire designs are the proper design.”

The Verizon series also is among the most diverse racing series in motorsports, he said. The 16 races on the 2016 calendar included street courses, road courses, short ovals and full-size ovals, including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That brings turns at 35 miles an hour in Detroit on a street course, up to the 235 MPH turns at Indy.

“To accommodate that diversity, we built 59 different specifications of tires for those 16 races,” Harrigle said. “Every time the car is on the race track, every tire on the car is unique. Most of the time there are unique constructions, and sometimes even the compounds are different between the right front and left front, depending on exactly what the car has to do to navigate the track.”

By far the highlight of this season has been the 100th running if the Indy 500, and Harrigle said the Firestone Firehawks performed flawlessly in the race. “We were involved in the first running in 1911, and we were absolutely thrilled to be there 100 runnings later for the 2016 version of the race,” he said.

Before the season even ended, preparations already have begun for 2017. The team was in Indianapolis recently for testing to determine the 2017 Indy 500 tire, and already knows it will have to develop a new tire for the Phoenix race.

Besides using the Verizon IndyCar series as a way to market its tires, Bridgestone leverages technology used in developing race tires to those products used out on the road.

Harrigle said the most basic crossover area is in materials, citing the need to run in hot conditions as an example. “Some of the same materials that help us run cool at Indy at 235 mph are the same materials that benefit a truck tire running through the Arizona dessert on a 100-degree day,” he said.

The Firestone Racing team also has benefited from advanced simulation tools the past couple of years that are starting to benefit the rest of the company, according to Harrigle.

A third advantage that racing brings is in people development because working in motorsports is a high-paced environment that can be stressful and needs quick turnaround times. “It's a great environment to develop people and then bring them back into tire development as a whole, with hopefully an expanded skill set and an appreciation for what motorsports can bring to the table,” he said.

And while tire consumers usually aren't happy about being at a tire store to buy new tires, at races Firestone can promote its brand in a way he said that helps put Firestone tires in a different light.

“We're actually building a product that's part of the competition,” Harrigle said. “I think that's where racing really works for the tire companies is that the same trust IndyCar drivers show going into turn one at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Firestone tires hopefully translates a little bit to the consumer.”