What happened with Goodyear at Bristol? Exploring the contrasting tire fall-off when Denny Hamlin aced the 'World's Fastest Half Mile'

The Goodyear tires held astonishingly well at the Bristol Motor Speedway. This comes months after the tires suffered a lot of wear and tear at the same venue when Denny Hamlin won the Food City 500.

Fans and drivers are surprised with the Goodyear tire's performance at the Bass Pro Shops Night Race compared to the event held in March 2024. Motorsport journalist Jeff Gluck highlighted that the tires had no issue even after 100 laps into the race. He further compared the tires sent by Goodyear for the Food City 500 held on the same track, where they blew out after 40 to 60 laps despite being expected to last 130 laps.

After the unexpected turn of events at Bristol in March 2024, everyone speculates that Goodyear has made some hefty changes to the tires. But NASCAR's official tire supplier mentioned that they used the same tire they used in the race held in March this year, which turned out to be a disaster.

SiriusXM NASCAR Radio had an interview with Greg Stucker, the director of Goodyear after the March race and he explained:

"So there’s a lot to go through. But we’re certainly looking at every piece of the puzzle from our perspective and make sure there was nothing in our raw materials or any of our processes that would create any sort of difference."

NASCAR's official tire partner mentioned that they used the same tire compound in March as they used last fall. However, they applied a different resin in the bottom instead of the PJ1 traction compound. Denny Hamlin won the race held in March while other drivers struggled to race with the new tire compound.

Upon comparing the tires, Jeff Gluck expressed his views on the matter and wrote:

"Something isn't adding up for sure. You can argue the teams made the setups better. You can say it's warmer. You can say more rubber on the track. But they've gone from tires blowing out in 40-50 laps to barely any wear on a 125-lap run? Uh....."

Denny Hamlin reacts to his 52nd win in his NASCAR career

Denny Hamlin won the Food City 500 held in March, making his fourth NASCAR Cup Series win this season. But this win didn't come easily. Hamlin used his past short-track experience and made a tire management strategy that helped him win the race.

"That’s what I grew up here doing in the short tracks in the Mid Atlantic, South Boston, Martinsville. Once it became a tire-management race, I really liked our chances," stated the NASCAR Cup Series driver.

Continuing further, he acknowledged his team's hard work in making a strong car and mentioned that the pit crew did a "phenomenal job all day." The Joe Gibbs Racing team driver adapted quickly to the situation and handled it well, resulting in a win.

Denny Hamlin led a total of 163 laps in the race and scored 44 points. However, despite losing his lead to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr., Hamlin regained his spot and beat his teammate to the finish by 1.083 seconds.