The Cup Series and Xfinity Series return to action this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway for the middle race in their respective Round of 8 playoffs.
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series is off this weekend. Its Round of 6 playoff wraps up next week at Phoenix.
Both Cup and Xfinity cars will carry the same size and types of tires this weekend at the 1.5-mile high-speed oval. There will be one distinction - the left side tires will be different than the left side rubber that was raced at Texas back in late March.
Texas underwent a repave before the 2017 season. As a result, tire wear “poses several challenges,” according to Goodyear:
* Fresh asphalt has a lot of grip, which generates a lot of speed and heat in the tires.
* A new surface is relatively smooth and doesn’t allow tires to shed rubber, which could also cause heat problems.
* Because little rubber gets worked into the track, it is harder to create multiple racing grooves.
* The left-side tires feature a construction update similar to what has already been used at several tracks this season including Kansas, Kentucky, Las Vegas and Michigan.
As a result, Goodyear has designed right-side tires to wear more and run cooler. In addition, because the bottom lane is the preferred groove, the traction compound PJ1 will be applied above the bottom lane to create a viable second lane/groove.
Here is the tire information for this weekend’s races at Texas:
Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials
Set limits: 3 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 10 sets for the race (9 race sets plus 1 set transferred from qualifying or practice); Xfinity: 7 sets for the event.
Tire Codes: Left-side -- D-4954; Right-side – D-4796.
Tire Circumference: Left-side -- 2,225 mm (87.60 in.); Right-side – 2,251 mm (88.62 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation: Left Front -- 22 psi; Left Rear -- 22 psi; Right Front -- 52 psi; Right Rear -- 50 psi
Notes: As on all NASCAR ovals greater than 1 mile in length, teams are required to run liners in all four tire positions at Texas. ... Air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
Weather: According to wunderground.com, the forecast for Saturday night’s Xfinity race calls for a temperature of 52 degrees with a 0% chance of rain at the scheduled 8:30 p.m. ET start time (on NBCSN), and a temperature of 59 degrees with a 0% chance of rain at the scheduled 3 p.m. ET start time for Sunday’s Cup race on NBCSN.
