What’s Happening?

The consensus following the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro was that, while the option tire was a good attempt, it simply wasn’t quite enough. Denny Hamlin gave an interesting answer as to why everything transpired that way on race day, the long practice session, and the cool temperatures. He even argued that teams could deal with having less practice on short tracks to help mitigate what happened on Sunday.

• Normally, teams are only given a 20-minute practice session before qualifying, then the cars are put away before the race. However, this weekend at North Wilkesboro, practice was nearly an hour as NASCAR wanted the teams to test the new tire.
• Hamlin agrees that the length of that session could have caused the softer tires to wear out less, but why? He also echoes a garage suggestion that NASCAR could reduce short-track practice.
• Fans hope to see some major changes. While this option tire idea was a good step, something didn’t work, and NASCAR needs to keep working

Why Did the Tire Not Wear as Much?

Hamlin reiterated that no one expected the option tires to last as long as they did. Co-hosts Jared Allen and Hamlin both theorized that the elongated practice session contributed to the tire wear not being that drastic. Hamlin explained why.

I think this is precisely why more practice is not good. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be practicing for promotional reasons for a given weekend, but the teams figure it out. At the beginning of practice we had cars that were way off and we had cars that were really good, and then by the time one hour goes by we all just get really close. So then everyone runs the same speed, and then when you have a tire that doesn’t fall off, you’re not going to pass

Denny Hamlin

Essentially, the more teams practice, the more they learn about the track and what works. They have time to analyze and dissect the data, and they can learn how to handle whatever is happening.

In this instance, teams had roughly one hour to practice on the track and two days afterward to decide what they wanted to do. In that amount of time, the field got closer together, and they also figured out how to make the tires last as long as possible.

Hamlin also mentioned that temperature played a role. He mentioned that the option tires wore out quickly when practicing during the day because it was warmer. However, the race was at night in cooler temperatures, meaning the tires didn’t generate as much heat and took longer to wear out.

As the temperatures dropped, track temperature dropped. We didn’t have enough heat to cause the tire to grain, so we need to get more heat in the tire.

Denny Hamlin

Should NASCAR Further Limit Practice on Short Tracks?

Hamlin said he “Agrees” with others in the industry, such as Rodney Childers, who, according to Hamlin, have suggested “Blindly” bringing the tire to other tracks and forcing teams to figure it out on the fly. Hamlin later in the interview, after a suggestion from Allen, used the Bristol race as an example of teams being forced to adjust on the fly

You want them to have to try to solve it during the course of a race, and that’s what Bristol was. We were like ‘holy s—! Okay, what are we going to do, and how are we going to manage it?

Denny Hamlin

Hamlin and Allen agreed that there needs to be enough practice for the teams and drivers to ensure everything works. However, the practice cannot be too long for the teams to figure everything out on Friday or Saturday before the race later that weekend.

However, shorter practices do not solve all of the problems. Many short track races have featured 20-minute-long practice sessions in the Next-Gen era, but many of those races have been lackluster. There likely needs to be a combination of a more aggressive tire along with that.

Hamlin gave some interesting insight into what happened at North Wilkesboro. Does NASCAR have the blueprint to improve the short track product going forward?