Kansas Speedway is known for its good finishes. Since the Next-Gen car debuted in 2022, it has received backlash at most of NASCAR’s Cup Series racetracks. However, it performs the best at the 1.5-mile Kansas track, which produces great late-race battles and drama. In 2025, however, something else has popped up to ruin the chances for a good event – yet another one of Goodyear’s experiments. NASCAR’s official tire brand has been innovating since the wild 2024 spring race in Bristol. And let’s just say, things are not going as planned.

Goodyear’s efforts to improve the Next-Gen car have proved fruitful at some short tracks, like Richmond or Phoenix. However, its intermediate program just hit a major roadblock with things going wrong in Kansas. Constant tire pops, flattened and sparking, led to a lot of criticism for the long-time NASCAR partner. But what exactly went wrong?

NASCAR encounters a big pre-race dilemma

Well, the anticipation was big for Kansas Speedway. But all of that came undone due to a woeful practice. Before the Advent Health 400 race kicks off, Goodyear introduced something new. It used the same right-side tire that it used at Kansas Speedway a season ago. But the tire manufacturer swapped the left-side tire to the same compound it used at Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami, Darlington, and last weekend’s race at Texas. This innovation was all it took to set off a storm of problems. A rash of flat tires headlined the NASCAR Cup Series practice on Saturday as teams found the limit of low air pressure. Four teams were unlucky in this mess, and the drivers involved were Shane Van Gisbergen, Brad Keselowski, Chase Briscoe, and fastest driver Ty Gibbs.

Ty Gibbs‘ fast lap in the session was a 29.976-second (180.144 mph) lap time. It made the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing driver the only one to break into the 29-second bracket. But that effort came undone with his left-rear flat tire. He, along with SVG and Keselowski, faced the issue within laps of each other when practice for the first group of drivers began. Chase Briscoe was in the second group of drivers when his failure occurred. NASCAR Journalist Jeff Gluck updated the chaotic situation on X: “Make that four cars with flat tires. Chase Briscoe is the latest. Goodyear changed the left-side tire to promote more falloff and wear (again, it’s the same as the other intermediates this season so far — Vegas, Homestead, Darlington, Texas).”

Goodyear product manager Rick Heinrich attempted to explain the fiasco after practice. According to him, the unique build of the Kansas Speedway track may be a factor. Heinrich said, “Everybody is getting as aggressive as they can be with those rear air pressures, trying to get that back end down. Speeds are up a bit, which is going to increase loads. That bump over the tunnel is also pretty aggressive. In a situation like this, where you start out with air pressure that low, the damage is done immediately, and they’re going out on the apron, they’re getting up and hitting that bump. When you cross that line on air pressure, the damage is going to happen pretty quick.” Agreed and acknowledged, but does that stop the heat?

Of course not! Goodyear has dominated the tire scenario at NASCAR for years, and as NASCAR plans its global expansion, so does the tire giant. Recently, it has been planning to hive off and sell its farm tyre business in India, a year after it sold its off-the-road (OTR) business to the Japanese firm Yokohama for $905 million. Wait a minute, does it signal a time of constant fall for the giant?

While it hit $627 billion in evaluation in 2015, and $504.7 billion in 2021, the number has reduced to only $236.54 billion, as calculated on April 5, 2025. And this is not a good sign. The number of flat tires per season is also increasing. And, all of this cannot be accounted for by the pit crew alone. Despite the explanations by officials, Goodyear’s problems were not just confined to the left-side tires. Another Cup Series driver faced an issue on the opposite end.

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The other side of impending danger

Well, last year’s Kansas race witnessed a picture-perfect finish. Kyle Larson beat Chris Buescher by the narrowest margin of 0.01 seconds. However, the chances of that amazing finish repeating have already decreased in 2025. What is more, flat left-side tires are no longer the only problem, as even the right-side wheels were not spared. Along with Gibbs, Keselowski, SVG, and Briscoe, the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford by Zane Smith also fell prey to Goodyear’s snag. His right-side tire went down, which resulted in him hitting the wall off Turn 4. The FRM sophomore driver was in the second group of drivers in practice. Smith’s 2025 season has been average so far, having recorded his lone top-ten finish at Phoenix Raceway, besides recording four top-15 finishes.

Zane Smith reflected on his poor practice session at Kansas Speedway. He lamented about Goodyear’s problems, as his car seemed good overall. “We saw the issues in the first group, and then I thought we were safe on the pressures we were running, and then, out of nowhere, blew a right rear in the middle of [Turns] 3 and 4, and it unfortunately tagged the fence. Just a spot bad for that to happen. Before that happened, though, an unbelievably fast Horizon Hobby Ford. I feel really good about our car; I felt our long run pace was as strong as anybody’s.” Despite the nagging problems, Smith still has confidence in FRM’s ability to power through them. He continued, “Hopefully we get it back to the way it was …Everyone at FRM is going to be working hard to get this thing back right, but all the confidence in the world in them.”

Clearly, Goodyear has cast a dark cloud over Kansas Speedway. Let us see if Cup Series drivers can navigate through the tire problems to put up a good race on Sunday.