SPEED didn't really do that, right??

[mgarvey661]

Am I really watching NASCAR truck QUALIFYING instead of the 200? WTF?!?

[random hero]

Looks like we'll see the final 15 laps tonight @ 9pm mountain time.... speed is so lame!

[hcr25]

It sucks for sure but why is the AMA going to shorten the laps that are left?

[random hero]

It sucks for sure but why is the AMA going to shorten the laps that are left?

I read online it was Dunlop's call, not the ama's... really sad to see them S**t the bed for the 200.

[hcr25]

Thanks for the info! Where did you read that? it seems weird that a tire manufacturer could change the amount of laps in a race.

[Chadwick929]

M canceling my Speed package with Directv. This is BS.

[random hero]

Thanks for the info! Where did you read that? it seems weird that a tire manufacturer could change the amount of laps in a race.

On a forum, a couple of guys that were there in the paddock... I think it went like this. Dunlop: "I don't think it's safe for the tires to go 30 laps, etc" more for riders safety... Seeing Eslick crash like that was ridiculous!

[McLovin]

Would be really cool to hear what really is going on. Bet Ricky O. could give us the low down. Did everyone have to run Dunlops?

[Blue Junk]

It's not speed's fault about the video feed. We had a delay that was at least 1.5 hours and seemed like 3. There was a red flag cause by DiSalvo and then Dunlop informed the officials of the tire situation and there was a huge delay.

[cromer611]

Thanks for the info! Where did you read that? it seems weird that a tire manufacturer could change the amount of laps in a race.

On a forum, a couple of guys that were there in the paddock... I think it went like this. Dunlop: "I don't think it's safe for the tires to go 30 laps, etc" more for riders safety... Seeing Eslick crash like that was ridiculous!

*facepalm* why ya gotta say anything about someone who crashed : / im the lameo that doesnt have a DVR nor cable. waiting on racing underground to upload the cap for download. :oops:

[random hero]

Thanks for the info! Where did you read that? it seems weird that a tire manufacturer could change the amount of laps in a race.

On a forum, a couple of guys that were there in the paddock... I think it went like this. Dunlop: "I don't think it's safe for the tires to go 30 laps, etc" more for riders safety... Seeing Eslick crash like that was ridiculous!

*facepalm* why ya gotta say anything about someone who crashed : / im the lameo that doesnt have a DVR nor cable. waiting on racing underground to upload the cap for download. :oops:

sorry cromer :cry:

[N1K]

I thought red flag was for the tires to not jason he didnt stop on track or drop any oil or anything.

[random hero]

I thought red flag was for the tires to not jason he didnt stop on track or drop any oil or anything.

it was... "red flag for mandatory front tire change, per ama"

[Sol Performance]

I guess since I am the Dunlop rep here in the region I will contribute what I know.

First of all, here is the responses that Dunlops Vice President of Moto operations, Roadracing manager and tire engineer gave about what happened.
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2011/Mar/110313a.htm

Just recently getting off the phone with Dunlop in the east coast, I would like to add on the topic as well...

Daytona is a very different kind of animal when it comes to race tracks. It sets itself apart by the extreme heat that it produces in the tires. No other track in the world come close to it. In the past (and present) Dunlop has gone through very many measures to make the tires last the way they do there. Nitorgen, shaving the tire, Nitrogen/refrigerant combo (track safe), ultra hard compounds etc..

I have worked numerous Daytona 200s and every year seems to be a challenge in a different way it seems like. However, overheating a tire at Daytona is as common as snow here in Colorado. It's just not that surprising anymore.

If we already know about this problem, why was the tires over heating this year?? It turned out to be a combination of issues:
- The day was a very hot day. Obviously, when dealing with over heating, you don't want the days to be hot as well!
-Lack of test time. This year we only had about an afternoon to test out the tires on the new track. That's not enough time for a multiple of classes to test for an extended period of time.
-The tire compound. The riders actually chose (from the tests and such) to ride on the tire they went out on. Yes Dunlop was ok with the choice. However, the tire was more of a grip tire and not the durable tire.
-The new pavement! The new pavement is good but there are two things that changes with it. The track is smooth. Yea, that is a great thing to have when you have a normal layout. But when you have a smooth track then it doesn't wear out a tire as much. Again, is that a bad thing? Not most of the time. However, if you have a track that is notorious for the heat you actually do want the tire to start wearing. Second thing is that the new track is darker then the old pavement. The blacker track actually attracts (and keeps) more heat, thus transferring it to the tire.. not good.

A pseudo problem, that the tires might have, are the actual riders teams. I am not saying that the tires are fine and it was the teams fault at all. However, sometimes teams will go to a lower pressure looking for the grip factor and nothing else. The problem with that is this can contribute to the overheating even further. If it was a huge overheating problem then a lot more tires than just 4 would have chunked. 4 tires out of 96 on the track. That's about 4.2%.

Additionally, that's why Dunlop gives recommended pressures. They are even more important at Daytona. If I wanted to make it so a rider overheated a tire here in Colorado (in 14 laps), I could make that happen. Heck, I had a rider chunk a tire on a dyno before too!! (cough..Jim) Of course we don't recommend overheating and thus why we recommend the pressures we do.

Dunlop was concerned after learning that some teams were not even planning on changing that front the whole race. So we saw that it could be a problem and decided to tell all the riders that was not going to be happening and told everyone to put on the more durable fronts instead.

Trust me when I say that I have seen every tire manufacturer chunk up at Daytona. Every brand that braved to be a part of the race, chunked at one time or another.

Ultimately, Daytona tires are only made for Daytona. One race, once a year at one track.

I would like to go more into what really makes a tire over heat (chunk) and how to make sure it doesn't happen to you but I can't type that much and be good for work in the morning. I will go over all this at my tire seminar going on this Saturday at my shop (233 S. Madison St. Loveland). Come learn more about this and other important issues concerning one of the most important part of your bike.

Hope this answers some of the questions you guys might have had about the tire stuff at Daytona..

Oscar