In any form of motorsport, tires play as crucial a role as the engine, bodywork, or aerodynamics. They play a huge role in the challenger’s top speed and are pivotal to drivers finding grip on the track. So if a tire manufacturer comes out with a product that is not up to mark with the intense nature of the sport, drivers and teams are left angry and frustrated. That is exactly what happened, on multiple occasions, to former NASCAR driver and three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart.

NASCAR’s official tire partner is Goodyear Racing and while they might be a big name in motorsport, they may not have lived up to Stewart’s expectations.

Tony Stewart’s disappointment with Goodyear is no secret

There have been several instances where Tony Stewart was seen slamming Goodyear for their poor product and how they were discontinued by a number of big motorsport bodies around the globe. He has also said in the past those were the worst tires he had ever raced on in his professional career and that Goodyear should go back to manufacturing only street tires.

In one instance, Stewart said, “That’s the most pathetic racing tire I’ve ever been on in my professional career. They exited out of Formula One, they exited out of the IRL, they exited out of World of Outlaws and there’s a reason for that cause Goodyear can’t build a tire that’s worth a cr*p.”

Here are some more snippets of what Stewart has said about Goodyear through his racing career.

“If that’s the best product they think they can bring to the track, then I strongly suggest they go back to just making street tires and I’m not even sure that’s a good idea,” he said on another occasion.

“So tired of talking about Goodyear, it’s just ridiculous. I’m just over.”

“I’m absolutely still, after the third day of being here, amazed at what Goodyear has done.”

“Definitely the worst tires I think I’ve ever been on in my entire nine years of driving in the Cup Series.”

“Don’t get them anywhere near me. Don’t let them anywhere close, don’t let them come close. I don’t want anything to do with them.”

He even went as far as to say that Goodyear should be embarrassed with the kind of product they brought to a race weekend at one point.

“If I were Goodyear, I’d be really embarrassed about this weekend and what they brought us here.”

It is safe to say that Tony Stewart is not a fan of Goodyear, but recent reports have suggested that NASCAR has received positive feedback from drivers as they tested different tire compounds at Richmond on Monday and Tuesday.

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NASCAR receives positive comments on new tyres after Richmond test

As per a report by journalist Kelly Crandal of RACER, six Cup Series drivers did multiple test runs at the Richmond track testing out the new tire compound. After the conclusion of testing, NASCAR’s vice president of vehicle performance Dr. Eric Jacuzzi said that drivers were happy with the compounds as they had a lot of grip, which made it easier for them to move around at high speeds.

“(We) went to the second set of tires, which had a little thicker thread on them, so a lot more grip in those. Drivers were really positive about that, said it laid down a lot of rubber, they could move around a lot behind each other,” he said.

“It was a pretty good, pretty positive outcome. We got some positive comments that the diffuser not being there made the car a little more forgiving on corner entry. It felt like they could slide around a little more and move around. We were pretty happy with that, for sure,” Jacuzzi added. NASCAR is supposed to run these new tires two weeks from now at Indianapolis.

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