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Candid Chase Elliott Unintentionally Trashes Goodyear’s Phoenix Tire experiments
Candid Chase Elliott Unintentionally Trashes Goodyear’s Phoenix Tire experiments
Speaking about the tire compounds made by Goodyear, the Hendrick Motorsports star believes that they do not make much of a difference during a race.
It’s common knowledge how tire compounds work across all kinds of motorsports. Softer compounds are faster but don’t last very long and harder compounds last for several laps but aren’t as fast. To be successful, teams have to use these compounds smartly during a race with strategy in mind, and often, the right compound determines the winner of a race.
Chase Elliott exposes Goodyear’s tire compounds’ effectiveness
But that may not be the case in NASCAR, according to Chase Elliott. The Hendrick Motorsports driver believes that the Next-Gen car does not allow the different tire compounds to work well. There can be a lot of reasons for this. For the tire compounds to work, a car needs to be fairly light, and the Next-Gen is anything but. Its weight creates a lot of downforce, which bears down on the tires, subjecting them to extra pressure from above, which affects their performance.
Perhaps this would not have been an issue had it not been for NASCAR’s stringent rules about all the cars being the same. Engineers are hardly given any wiggle room when it comes to the car’s build which has cut down the scope for innovation. It’s a criticism that the organizers have faced from drivers, fans and insiders alike.
Man, I’ll shoot you super straight. They change the tire all the time. Not only does it not make the racing look any different, but it’s really hard to tell from inside the car. Regardless of whatever compound they put on — and I’m not saying it doesn’t change things, because it does — but they are such minute things. It’s not gonna look any different. You’re never gonna hear about it. I don’t mean that negatively, but the cars are what they are. We’re racing on asphalt and there are four tires. It can only be so different. Typically, the same guys run good every week whether there’s a tire compound change or not,” Elliott said as per a tweet by Jeff Gluck.
This @chaseelliott answer to @Cole_Cusumano_’s question about the new tire compound and whether it made a difference was memorable and will stick in my head for a bit.
“Man, I’ll shoot you super straight. They change the tire all the time. Not only does it not make the racing…
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) March 9, 2024
Chase Elliott was not just underwhelmed with the tire compounds, but he did not shy away, like a lot of his counterparts, from raining criticism down on NASCAR’s new aero package, which apparently has hardly made a difference.
As per a report in Autoweek, several Cup Series racers believe that the new package has added nothing in terms of the driving experience after a practice session in Phoenix. This is disappointing for NASCAR since there was a lot of promise after the initial test of the package in Phoenix which garnered a positive response from the ones testing. So will this package be enough even to temporarily sort out the short-track racing issues?
“I forgot they did anything until they started talking about it afterwards. I don’t see it really changing a whole lot. I could be totally wrong, but I don’t think it’s going to change much,” Chase Elliott quipped when asked about the new package. Fellow Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr echoed his sentiments when he said, “The teams engineer everything, make the car as close to balance as they can. So I felt exactly like I did here last fall.”
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A former Ferrari engineer has criticised the decision to bring in Lewis Hamilton and thinks the Brit’s presence will mean “a lot of potential for drama”.
At the age of 40, seven-time Formula 1 champion Hamilton will form a formidable driver partnership with Charles Leclerc. His big switch comes at the expense of Carlos Sainz, who has performed well for the Italian squad but who was axed so they had room for their blockbuster new signing.
But not everyone of a Ferrari persuasion is convinced that it will go well. Ernest Knoors, who spent many years as an engineer at Maranello, specialising in power units, worries that Hamilton’s presence could do more harm than good for a team that is finding its groove under Frederic Vasseur.
“A big name like Hamilton also brings a lot of politics and if politics within Ferrari are not managed well, then there is a lot of potential for drama,” he told Formule1.nl. “Hamilton has the tendency that if things do not work out, he turns his whole car upside down and starts experimenting.
“Ferrari believes very much in the big personalities and will follow him. But Hamilton is just someone you have to guide a little bit and not give the freedom to rebuild the whole car, because then it will go completely wrong. So I do not know if it is such a smart move, but of course it is nice for the sport.”
News of Hamilton’s planned move broke on February 1, coinciding with football’s Transfer Deadline Day. That the back pages of many newspapers were dominated by the decision of Hamilton to swap Mercedes for Ferrari was testament to the magnitude of the announcement.
Sainz was not surprised as he had been informed by his team of the plan ahead of it being made public. But the Spaniard responded well with two victories to date this season and five further appearances on the podium, on the way to what looks likely to be a fifth-placed finish in the championship – two spots and 54 points ahead of Hamilton.
Sainz has signed for Williams next year and, after several years of running at the front of the grid, will focus on his new challenge of helping restore one of the grid’s most historic teams to its former glory. But Knoors believes he should have been kept on by Ferrari instead.
The Dutchman added: “I see Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari more as a PR move. With all due respect, Hamilton is not going to take that Ferrari from P6 to P1. He will get the most out of it, but what Ferrari has to do is make that car faster. And if you make that car faster, you can easily drive at the front with the current line-up.
“Besides, as a team you have to look further on the horizon. If Hamilton becomes champion in the coming years, he and Ferrari will become immortal. But if you want to build a team with talent for the next five years, are you going to build on Hamilton? No, because he will really be finished after two or three years. That is why I would have kept the very strong line-up that Ferrari has now.”
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Chase Elliott had a front-row seat for one of NASCAR’s most bizarre moments of the 2024 Cup Series season. At the start of Stage 2, the pace car dove onto pit road in front of Elliott; however, it was a tad too late. The pace car made contact with the sand barrels at the entry of pit road and caused a red flag for cleanup.
Initially, there was some speculation on the NBC Sports broadcast, even from the No. 9 team, that Elliott made contact with the pace car. Fortunately, the pace car didn’t slide across the No. 9 car’s nose, but it undoubtedly provided one of NASCAR’s craziest red flag moments in recent memory.
Below, you can listen to Elliott and the No. 9 team react to the pace car crashing into the sand barrels on pit road at Phoenix during Championship Weekend!
Reflecting on the recent retirement of 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., Earnhardt didn’t mince words about the toll NASCAR takes on its drivers. Speaking candidly, the two-time Daytona 500 winner admitted that the pressure to perform every week left him feeling miserable for most of his racing career—a sentiment he believes is shared by many of his peers.
“Right or wrong, racing made me a miserable person 90% of the time,” Earnhardt confessed. “And him too. I mean, ask Kyle Busch, ask anybody—unless you’re winning, you’re not happy.”
For these elite drivers, the sport is a relentless grind. A podium finish might bring temporary relief, but anything short of victory is often a source of frustration. The immense effort poured into preparation and execution rarely feels like it pays off unless the checkered flag is theirs.
Earnhardt highlighted the mental toll of falling short, explaining how the relentless focus on winning can overshadow the joy of simply competing. Even a solid performance feels hollow compared to the euphoria of a win.
“Unless you’re winning, you’re not happy at all,” he said. “You’re okay with a good run, but for the most part, all the effort it takes just to run good—it doesn’t weigh out.”
For drivers, the stakes are sky-high every week. Sponsors, fans, and teams demand nothing less than excellence, leaving little room for error or personal satisfaction in anything less than a dominant performance.
Earnhardt also shared insights into his friendship with Martin Truex Jr., who recently announced his retirement. While the two often spend time hunting together during NASCAR’s off-season, Earnhardt noted that the stress of racing even creeps into their leisure activities.
“When I’m with him during hunting season, it’s always in the back of his mind,” Earnhardt said. “It’s that stressful part of the year when he’s as miserable as he’s going to be.”
Now, with Truex stepping away from the track, Earnhardt looks forward to seeing a lighter, happier version of his long-time friend. Without the weight of weekly competition hanging over him, Truex might finally be able to relax and enjoy the outdoor lifestyle he cherishes.
“It’ll be fun to see him loosen up,” Earnhardt added.
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