Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing: “The Option tire worked exactly as it was intended.. They fired off immediately and were more than a half-second faster than the Prime, which is big on a short track.  Also, the Options gave up significantly more than the Primes over a long run, as intended.

“At about the 25-lap mark, the lap times evened off, so the Options proved fast early while the Primes were strong on the long run.

“What was really exciting was how different teams used the Option tire at different times to accomplish their own goals.  For example, Daniel Suarez put them on early in the race and charged from the middle of the pack to take the lead, while Kyle Busch put them on at the end of stage two to try to get a lap back.

“Overall, the Primes/Options tire set-ups highlighted the risk versus reward we were exactly looking for.”

— Goodyear Racing —