Denny Hamlin shouts out Goodyear for cracking tire wear code after Charlotte

Denny Hamlin took a moment to shout out Goodyear after Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the Charlotte ROVAL. Many drivers and fans alike had mixed feelings about the event itself, but Hamlin was quick to praise the tire manufacturer.

He believes their latest breakthrough in creating significant tire fall-off was something to behold, and it’ll help improve racing in the Cup Series moving forward: “I almost wore my Goodyear hat again,” Hamlin joked, via the latest episode of Actions Detrimental. “I almost thought to myself, I’ll wear a Goodyear hat anytime I think they bring a tire that’s got big fall-off and things like that.

“It’s clear through their advancements that they’ve come up with something that makes tires wear. They’ve put something in the mixture that is making tires wear.”

Hamlin explained that the goodwill for Goodyear’s latest tires stems from them being impressive during recent tests across multiple tracks. Noticeable wear has been a consistent theme. It’s leading to better racing at tracks like the ROVAL.

“Every time we go to a tire test — even the last two or three tire tests at other racetracks like New Hampshire or wherever — Goodyear always brings a tire and the drivers say, ‘Man, that thing wore out in like 20 laps, 25 laps,’” Hamlin added. “And I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s awesome.’ So, you know, they used to say that in order to make tires wear, it’s all about the surface. Clearly, now it’s not about the surface.”

It’s all a good sign, as NASCAR fans have clamored for more tire wear to make races more strategic over the past couple of seasons. Hamlin believes Goodyear has finally found the formula to make that happen on a more consistent basis.

“I think they’ve learned enough to know that there’s something they can put in the formula of that rubber that will make it wear out — which is a great technological advancement, and it can definitely be used to optimize our racing going forward,” he explained. “So, props to Goodyear for bringing this tire. I guess this is kind of our standard road course tire at this point.”

To further drive home his point, Hamlin detailed how extreme the fall-off was during practice and qualifying at Charlotte over the weekend: “I couldn’t believe it in practice,” he said. “I’m watching Group A and seeing the lap times, and it’s like, ‘Okay, this just dropped half a second first lap, another half, another half,’ and the line just kept going down.

“I’m thinking, ‘Surely these guys are going to level out at some point.’ No — it was crazy to see. Like four seconds, four seconds of fall-off. It was incredible.”

When the race itself came around, the wear wasn’t as prevalent. Hamlin still believes it was a success for Goodyear, though.

“I thought about 30 percent of the drop-off was recovered, but it was still fine,” he said. “You still had comers and goers. That’s the reason Ross [Chastain] was backing up so heavily at the end of that race — he just had no rear tires left.

“But yeah, I thought they did a great job. We had a great tire this week. That certainly played no factor in how compelling — or lack of compelling — the race may have been.”

For Hamlin, Goodyear’s progress was the big story of the weekend at the ROVAL. If it’s a sign of things to come, the veteran wheelman is enthusiastic about the future and where the Cup Series and Goodyear go from here.