Severe NASCAR Cup tire degradation caused by resin placement at Bristol says Goodyear: "Still a bit of an unknown"

The NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday descended into chaos due to unforeseen levels of tire degradation. Tire manufacturer Goodyear's executives were puzzled by the excessive tire wear, which almost put the event in jeopardy.

Greg Stucker, Goodyear's director of racing, claimed that they don't know why the track behaved differently despite bringing the same package as last year's event. Stucker believed that the resin on the track could be the source of the problem.

NASCAR applied resin on the inner grove of the concrete half-mile oval, instead of PJ1, which was applied the last time the Cup Series visited the track. In an interview during the race, Stucker elaborated on the possible reasons behind the high-tire wear. He said (via Frontstetch.com):

"Now, we’re trying to understand what’s different. Why is the race track behaving differently this weekend than what it did a year ago. It’s the same package. It’s the same tire combination. Obviously, the difference is resin was placed on the lower grove instead of the PJ1. Last fall, it took rubber immediately during that race. Still a bit of an unknown as far as why it’s (track) not behaving the same way."

Stucker continued:

"Some guys are able to manage through it a little bit better than others. It’s still a tough situation. We’re just going to have to try to understand exactly what’s happening, what’s different and adjust from there."

Stucker explained that NASCAR was trying to move away from using PJ1 and resorted to applying resin on the track, which was not a surprise to him. However, he was also puzzled as to why the upper groves of the track didn't rubber in as the race progressed.

Despite the unexpected curve ball thrown by the excessive tire degradation, all but one driver managed to finish the race, albeit with only five drivers on the lead lap.

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Kyle Larson claims the NASCAR Cup race at Bristol was a "black eye" for Goodyear

2021 NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Larson claimed that the tire issues in the Food City 500 were a black eye for the sport's official tire supplier, Goodyear. He was puzzled as to why the track didn't rubber in throughout the race and hopes such a situation never repeats in the sport.

Kyle Larson said in a post-race interview with Noah Lewis:

"To have to run a race like that every week would not be good, and it’s honestly probably a black eye to Goodyear just with all the rubber that couldn’t get laid down and just wearing through tires and all that."

Larson rallied through the field to take home a fifth-place finish and is currently tied for first place with Martin Truex Jr. in the NASCAR Cup Series standings.