Denny Hamlin Hopes Rumors of Excessive Tire Wear for Bristol Are True

Ever since an incredible unintentional experiment at Bristol Motor Speedway in Spring 2024, which led to ultra-high tire wear, Goodyear and NASCAR have been trying to replicate the circumstances surrounding the tire compound from that particular race weekend.

While they've failed to come close to the level of tire wear showcased in that March 2024 event, there are rumors swirling through the NASCAR Cup Series garage that we could see excessive tire wear in Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops Night Race.

Denny Hamlin has heard some of the rumors, and he spoke about what he's heard about the Goodyear tire compound that will be used in Saturday night's race around the 0.533-mile high-speed, high-banked concrete oval on this week's episode of his Actions Detrimental Podcast. According to what Hamlin has heard, the right side tires that Goodyear will utilize this weekend in the NASCAR Cup Series were completely shredded nearly instantly in a test designed to check how the tire will wear under loads in the 500-lap race, which will serve as the final race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 16.

"They have this machine, apparently, that is like sandpaper. So, they slide this tire -- anyway, there's a tire that goes on this sand belt machine and checks the wear, how is this tire going to wear under certain loads? And apparently, they put on the Bristol right side tire, and it shredded into the machine immediately," Hamlin said. "Like, it was so aggressive that it destroyed the machine. Like it just unraveled and got caught in the machine."

The 44-year-old driver, who picked up his 59th career NASCAR Cup Series win this past weekend in the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway, cautioned that while this is what he's heard, it's not a direct first-hand source of what happened at the Goodyear tire load test, so there's a chance that the story of what happened to the tire in the machine could have been embellished a bit.

"That's basically what I'm telling you, so this is not factual whatsoever," Hamlin explained. "I'm telling you, now it didn't come from Austin. Give me a break. My sources are far better than his."

Hamlin says that Goodyear has also cautioned teams to not take the test to heart as far as how the tire will wear on Saturday night, as the tires put on the machine were straight off of the assembly line, and had yet to cure like the ones that will be used in the Playoff elimination race on Saturday night.

"Now, what Goodyear said to the teams that were like, 'Whoa, what is that?' They said, 'Listen, the thing came right off the line.' So, tires, rubber takes time to cure.," Hamlin explained. "So, what happens is once a tire comes off a production line, they usually try to let it sit for a certain amount of time. Because then the rubber will cure. Think of it like super glue. Super glue is liquid, and it will mold all around, but eventually that thing stiffens up over time, right? Same thing with rubber. I'm oversimplifying this quite a bit. And they said when we tested it, the tire came right off the line, and so that's why it essentially melted in the machine."

This means there is an unknown heading into this weekend's race, which has essentially been the case with every Bristol Motor Speedway event since March 2024, about how intensely the tires will wear. Hamlin, who is one of the best drivers in the sport at managing tire wear, won the high-tire wear 2024 event and is already locked into the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs due to his win at Gateway, is all for extreme tire wear this weekend.

"But either way, I'm all for team chaos this week. I hope we can't run 50 laps. I just hope they have enough tires is going to be my thing," Hamlin said.

It'll be interesting to see what the situation with tires are in Saturday night's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. If we see a high-tire wear event, there's a possibility that we see some Playoff runs derailed by tire issues, and there's a chance that if someone under the Playoff cutline hits it right on the setup, they could elevate their way into the Round of 12.

If tire wear isn't a factor on Saturday night, it could be tough sledding for anyone to make a move throughout the field, as we've seen in recent NASCAR Cup Series events at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Here is an Apple Podcasts Player featuring this week's Actions Detrimental Podcast in its entirety: