Drivers critical of Vegas tyres

A testing session in late January at the 1.5-mile oval revealed excessive heat was being generated due to the changes made to the track, forcing the tyre manufacturer and NASCAR to introduce changes.

The sanctioning body together with Goodyear announced in February the use of a harder tyre specification along with a smaller fuel cell for this weekend's event in the hope of improving safety.

During testing in January many drivers had tyre failures attributed to the higher speeds achieved at the modified track. The banking on every turn had been increased to 20 degrees and the whole track resurfaced. These changes made lap times nearly a second faster than in the past.

The smaller fuel cell with a capacity of 13 gallons, relative to the standard 17-gallon one, will force shorter stints on the tyres to try to avoid possible tyre failures, while the new tyre compound will make the rubber last longer and generate less heat.

However the tyre compound is apparently so hard that many drivers are struggling to get any grip out of it.

"I've held my breath for every lap I've been here. At least I didn't have to do that when I was here testing (in January)," said Tony Stewart, who qualified 25th for Sunday's race.

"We were probably running a little too quick during the test, and the harder tyres we've got now probably compensated for that. It was a lot faster than we all needed to be going, but you didn't feel like you were going to wreck every lap, and that's the way it feels now."

Four-time Nextel Cup champion Jeff Gordon was also among the drivers frustrated at the current levels of grip on the track.

"Obviously you don't want to see failures in the tyres and problems, so in that sense we are better with this tyre," he said. "But at the same time, you don't want to see Goodyear have to build a harder tyre like this.

"You don't want to see NASCAR make us go to smaller fuel cells. I think we always lean toward the conservative side and again, we have gone way too far.

"The tyre is a little too hard on the left side, I think the fuel cell being smaller isn't necessary, but I guess, better to be safe than sorry."

David Stremme, who starts Saturday's Busch race and Sunday's Cup race from the front row, was also among those who didn't enjoy the ride on the new tyre despite getting the most out of it.

"It's the same as when we tested here, but I wish they had left the tyres alone. There are more wrecks and more stuff happening now that they've made the tyre harder. It's hard to get a feel," he said.

Points leader Mark Martin was one to praise the efforts done by NASCAR to make things safer at Las Vegas, although he says it is not only the heat on the tyre that's causing problems but also the load created on the right front due to the increased banking.

"I think it's the load," he said. "I think in the old days it was a heat, a temperature issue. I think it's just the incredible load, the load that's produced by the weight of the car and the amount of banking and the amount of grip that you can get, puts an enormous load on the tyre, much more so than if you had less grip, I couldn't get over it.

"They told me the minimum recommended air pressure - and I was laughing - was qualifying air pressure!"

Teams at Las Vegas have been running more than 62 pounds of air on the tyres as recommended by Goodyear.

Sunday's race will start at 1:30 pm, around the time when the track will be at its highest temperature, while Saturday's Busch race will be closely watched by Goodyear enginners as it starts at noon.