NASCAR insider tackles Martinsville tire wear issue head-on, quoting Chase Elliott’s insight

Last year, NASCAR introduced a new tire compound for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs race at Martinsville. It was done to prevent tire wear, but coming into 2025, it brought up a new problem — overtaking. Addressing the same, renowned NASCAR insider Jeff Gluck has shared his thoughts by quoting Chase Elliott's insights from the Cook Out 400.

NASCAR concluded its seventh Cup Series race at the Martinsville Speedway. Denny Hamlin won the race with a thumping show ahead of his teammate, Christopher Bell. This was the #11 driver's first win of the season, and his sixth at the track.

Hamlin led a staggering 274 out of 400 laps to register himself as one of the most dominant drivers at Martinsville. However, his stunning show was assisted by the new compound tires introduced last year. As per Hendrick Motorsports star Elliott, it was difficult for him to overtake with the newer set of tires.

Focusing on the same, Gluck, a renowned NASCAR journalist with The Athletic, shared his thoughts. Here's what he said during a recent conversation with Jordan Bianchi as per Dirty Mo Media on X:

"They brought this new tire to Martinsville last fall. It seemed to be successful. We saw the tires falling off today, the whole side of the car. The cars were all covered in tire rubber but ultimately as you said, it was sort of a typical spring race where it seemed pretty hard to pass.

We heard Chase Elliott talking on the TV broadcast after the race, talking about how he felt like once he lost control of the race in stage two and wasn't able to pass Denny by the end of that stage, I think it is what he said, that that was pretty much the race in his mind."

According to reports, the softer tire compound wears out quicker than a standard tire but generates more speed. This can be seen in Formula 1, where the soft compound tire wears off relatively faster than the medium or hard compound tires.

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What did Chase Elliott say after the NASCAR Cook Out 400 at Martinsville?

Following the Cook Out 400 at the Martinsville Speedway, Chase Elliott summed up his race and spoke about falling short of Denny Hamlin (via Frontstretch):

"He was really good on the long run. When you have control like that, it makes a big difference. How you can control your run, and having that clean air, not having that one guy, just one guy in front of you, you know, makes a huge difference. But yeah, came up short, didn't get the job done and we'll try again next week." (0:24)

Clean air made a big difference for Hamlin, as he didn't have to deal with the dirty air from the car in front, and it reduced his tire wear compared to the drivers at the back. Elliott finished the race in fourth place behind Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Bubba Wallace.