If you thought Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway was exciting to watch, can you imagine that race, while competing on a damp surface?
While that’s not yet permitted for NASCAR’s National Series, a Goodyear tire test on Monday at Homestead, might make it closer to reality than anybody previously believed.
Brad Moran, Managing Director of the NASCAR Cup Series, spoke to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90) about Monday’s testing of the wet-weather tires on the popular mile-and-a-half racetrack.
Alex Bowman (Hendrick Motorsports), John Hunter Nemechek (LEGACY MOTOR CLUB), and Ryan Preece (RFK Racing) participated in Monday’s test session and were each given five different wet weather tire compounds to test throughout the day.
For this particular testing session, Goodyear brought along one controlled tire set and four alternate compounds, which Bowman, Nemechek, and Preece were able to test out.
By all accounts, the review of the wet-weather tire compound at Homestead-Miami Speedway was a success. Moran explained the process, speaking highly of the tires used.
“They wet the track down the night before, so it was damp, and they got it wet prior to the start of the test. From my reports, and we’ll go through this thoroughly later today in our competition meeting, the tires held up really well,” said Moran. “They did a great job.”
Now, to the Floridians seeing this news, don’t start doing your rain dances just yet, because, as Moran explained, there’s still a bunch of progress that has to be made before these tires can be used in-race.
“They were running up against the wall and kind of all over the racetrack in the wet. There was some spray, which we anticipated,” Moran said. “The speeds are much higher when we go to mile-and-a-halfs, so we’ve probably got a little work to do there.”
“Overall, it was a really good test. All three drivers agreed on the tire they all liked; they were in agreement that it was the best tire. We gained a lot.”
NASCAR has had wet-weather tires at the ready since the late 1990s, in the event of a passing shower. However, when those tires were debuted, they were only able to be used on road courses.
Last season, after extensive tire testing, NASCAR ruled that wet-weather tires would be in play at various short tracks on the NASCAR National Series schedule that had a built-in wet-weather package.
The tires were used for the first time in the 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, and have since been utilized for the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Before the first use of the tires at North Wilkesboro, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series had a stint with wet-weather tires at Martinsville Speedway.
The 2024 USA Today 301 at New Hampshire was the first race that featured a swap from slick tires to wet-weather tires in-race, which allowed the event to not only reach its 301-lap distance but extend into NASCAR Overtime.
“We started doing some testing a few years ago,” Moran said. “Obviously, we got to see more of it this year, and it worked out very well in New Hampshire as well as North Wilkesboro. It certainly helped us get back to racing and helped the fans have the opportunity to enjoy the race when they come.”
Nothing is set in stone, as far as whether these wet-weather tires will ever be used at the intermediate racetracks, but after Monday’s test, I would say it’s certainly a possibility.
