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More rear downforce may help tires

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Darrell Waltrip

Legendary stock car driver Darrell Waltrip — winner of 84 career NASCAR Cup Series races and a three-time champion — serves as lead analyst for NASCAR on FOX. He was selected for induction into the prestigious NASCAR Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2012. Want more from DW? Become a fan on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.

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Updated Jul 13, 2005 11:32 AM ET
     
 
Dennis from Oswego, Ill.: What's the deal with tires this year? Darrell Waltrip: If you have read my columns, then you know that I have been so annoyed about this tire situation. NASCAR and the drivers got what they wanted. When they started talking about softening up tires so they wear out and taking away downforce, they were asking for trouble, and trouble they have gotten. It starts with "T", and it doesn't stand for tires. It stands for trouble. Week in and week out, not just one car, but a number of cars are breaking track records that were set in the past when teams could use qualifying engines and had incredible amounts of downforce. Now drivers are going out with race engines and race setup at impound races, and they're breaking track records. What makes cars go fast? Grip. The records can only be attributed to the tires and the fact that they are just too soft. The Busch and Craftsman Truck Series don't have as many tire problems because those cars and trucks have downforce. But Nextel Cup has 820 horsepower gorillas trying to rip the tires off of the cars, and the tires just won't take it. They slip and slide around more because they have less downforce, and they've got so much horsepower. My suggestion would be to roll back the rule package that we had last year for a race or two. When you go back to Michigan, California and Pocono, give the teams rear downforce and leave the tires alone. Just put the big spoiler on the back and see what happens.
Ask DW
All of the testing is done in the off-season when tracks are cool and conditions are ideal, and those tests provide false results. Right now is when the tires and aero package should be tested. Go to those fast mile-and-a-half/two mile racetracks like California, Chicagoland, Kansas City, and Michigan right now and accumulate your downforce and tire data. You've always got to have a margin of error in testing because the cars always run faster when they're at the track and ready to race than they do during a test in the winter. Somebody needs to take a hard look at testing so they can figure out what the cars need and stop having all of these tire issues every week. It's just ridiculous. It's not necessary, and it can be fixed.

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