For a while, tires have been one of the biggest issues plaguing the NASCAR Cup Series. With the Next-Gen car, this problem has been even more prevalent. Last year, there were multiple tire blowouts during the course of the season. To make matters worse, some of it has been happening even this year as well.

In the latest episode of the Dale Jr Download, Dale Earnhardt Jr believes that he has identified the problem.

Dale Earnhardt Jr Absolved NASCAR of Any Blame for the Problems

He mentioned on his podcast, “A Cup tire, the radial tire that they run on now, is very thin. The rubber is really thin, and it is intentionally thin so that it does not create heat.”

“That avoids blistering, chunking, failures that we’ve seen in the past. Massive failures have been avoided by being able to take the rubber away from the tires so that it’s super thin and it doesn’t create that heat.”

“Maybe the short tracks need a different approach.”

He acknowledged that NASCAR has some sway on the tires, but they don’t make them. However, he does know that the sport has worked closely with Goodyear, who manufactures the tires. The former NASCAR driver observed that the recently concluded All-Star race weekend highlighted a lot of things. The most important was that the rain tire worked extremely well and there was close, competitive racing.

Dale Jr continued, “I’ve talked to two drivers, and they said that the rain tires provided a lot of mechanical grip. When you have mechanical grip, can you drive up closer to the car in front of you, relying more on aerodynamics and the grip from aero. The following car is at a massive disadvantage. When they put the tires on, they give those cars so much mechanical grip.”

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According to the ex-Hendrick Motorsports driver, the cars were able to run closer together. He acknowledged that NASCAR and Goodyear are aware of how things played out. So, he hopes that something like this encourages them to take risks on short tracks. Earnhardt Jr believes that the tires are not the sole cause of the issues. However, he also insisted that it is not entirely the Next Gen cars’ fault either.

What Was Dale Jr’s Far Cry From His Earlier Stance on Goodyear?

A few days ago, Dale Jr spoke about NASCAR tire supplier Goodyear, in a previous episode. Safe to say, he did not have such a high opinion of them.

He criticized them for having a tire that wore out very easily. Dale Jr said, “It was more of a gumball and kind of would ball up these little marbles and it’s now more dusty in terms of how it wears away but anyhow you know the tire is important. It connects the car to the road. Does Goodyear want a tire that wears out? Is that going to help them sell tires.. to mainstream America on the highway?”

In essence, the NASCAR stock cars are meant to represent the everyday road car that people are using. This also extends to the tires that are used, and if they wear out easily, then it is not a good look.

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Goodyear has been the official tire supplier for NASCAR since 1972. Furthermore, they inked a new deal last December, so the brand is here to stay. However, if this is the kind of quality to expect, then the relationship could very easily sour.