The All-Star race at North Wilkesboro is marking its 40th anniversary and the 36th occasion it’s been hosted in North Carolina. Just last year, the event made its grand return to North Wilkesboro Speedway for the first time since 1996. But that was the discussion for last year. This year, though, the spotlight’s on the tires. Goodyear has rolled out a new tire specifically engineered for the track’s demands.

Additionally, drivers have been given wet-weather tires to handle any potential rain over the weekend. There’s also the introduction of an option tire, which has caught Denny Hamlin‘s attention, though it hasn’t quite won over his 23XI driver, Tyler Reddick.

Denny Hamlin seems to be impressed with the ‘option‘

The new ‘Option‘ tire introduced for the North Wilkesboro race has been crafted with the same construction as the standard tire but features the tread compound used in Goodyear’s wet-weather tires. This option compound supposedly offers more grip but also wears out faster, increasing lap-time drop-off and emphasizing tire management during the race. Teams were provided two sets of these option tires during practice and the heat races, giving them ample opportunity to strategize their use for the All-Star race.

Denny Hamlin, when queried about the tire’s performance during practice, expressed satisfaction, stating, “They nailed it with this one. It’s just a great tire. Great lap time variation between the two tires and also just the ability to pass with it because there’s a difference in speed between the cars. So, as you’re seeing now guys are searching for new pavement to try to get a grip because they don’t want to be in the rubber because it is kind of slick. Right now this is like back to the old short track game.”

However, Tyler Reddick, driving for Denny Hamlin’s 23XI team, shared a differing view on the new ‘Option‘ tire. He noted that the tire’s performance and wear didn’t quite meet his expectations. “It took longer than I thought for it to really have the fall off, to really counterbalance it, but maybe with more laps on the track. is more rubber just. gets into the track pedal change, but… It didn’t fall off as much or as the red tire did not fall off like I expected to. It still fell off lot more, but not a crazy amount,“ Reddick observed.

He continued, “More grip is a good thing, but that just means we’re closer to wide open, that hurts racing to at the same time. Fall off look good and it seems like has more of it. And I don’t know if anyone had any courting or anything like that, but everything seemed good on our camp tire-wise.”

Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s racing chief, had previously noted that with adjustments to the wet weather compound for both sides of the car, they anticipated the Option tires to be about four to five-tenths faster per lap than the Prime tires on the five-eighths-mile track. According to him, the extra grip and speed also meant that the Option tires would wear out more quickly, emphasizing the importance of tire management.

However, Tyler Reddick seemed less than thrilled with this new tire compound. Another point of anticipation for fans and drivers alike about the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro was addressing the previously mentioned issues of the track’s rough surface. But what improvements, if any, have been made to the track itself?

Has NASCAR smoothed things over?

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Last year, a major gripe from drivers was North Wilkesboro’s rough track surface. Now, that’s history. For the first time since 1981, the track has a fresh layer of asphalt. Michael Waltrip, FOX racing analyst and former All-Star Race champ, pointed out what this means: speed and more bumping.

“Just the speed of these cars I think that’s going to be the big story. Also, just the grip level, and the way you’re gonna have to probably push and shove a little bit to make those moves. Last year, you saw a lot of slipping and sliding. There’s gonna be less of that. So, it’s probably gonna take more aggression this year than you saw here a year ago.“

And with a cool million on the line for the winner, this race is definitely one you won’t want to miss.