NASCAR could switch tyres during race

Officials announced on Sunday morning that there will be a competition caution on lap ten to evaluate tyre wear in the early part of the race. There could be further planned cautions, but NASCAR will decide during the race whether they are necessary.

Additionally, and as a contingency plan, Goodyear has brought 800 tyres of a different specification - used at Pocono Raceway earlier this year. The compounds on both the left and right sides are softer than those on the Indy spec, but the diameter and construction is exactly the same.

If the switch is made, it will be done under a competition caution and all teams would have to switch at the same time.

"The track improved between practices yesterday, which is a good sign," said NASCAR's Jim Hunter. "Once the field takes the track today we think it will get back to normal conditions. We'll have a competition caution at lap ten, we'll evaluate, and announce additional cautions if needed.

"We have Pocono tyres on hand and Goodyear is mounting the back-up tyres at an impound area. At 12 noon, teams will have access to the tyres to prep them, and everybody will get the opportunity at the same time.

"The back-up tyres will remain in the impound area. In the unlikely event we need them, all teams will switch at the same time."

Despite the softer compound of the Pocono tyres, Goodyear's Greg Stucker expects wear to be very similar to the Indy specification if they end up running them during the race. The construction and one of the compounds on the contingency tyre have been run before at Indianapolis, although with the old Cup car.

"The tyres are very similar so we expect the wear rate to be about the same," said Stucker, who doesn't expect a decision on the switch to come early in the race. "It's going to be past the halfway point. Before that, no decision will be made before we have to pull that trigger."

Stucker explained that because it's the first time they've run the new Cup car at Indy, it was difficult to predict how the track would rubber in during the weekend. Back in April, three Sprint Cup teams completed a private session with the tyre manufacturer to decide which codes would be run this weekend.

"The difference you have when you're here at a tyre test is you're with three or four cars," Stucker added. "So you still don't have the ability to put rubber down and know how it's going to be when you come back.

"But we know how it's been historically, and that's one of the reasons why we chose to stay with that same compound - because it was a known quantity."

Speaking on the Speedway's behalf, track president Joe Chitwoood said the situation is completely different to what happened in the 2005 Formula One US Grand Prix, when only six Bridgestone-shod cars raced, while the rest of the field (running on Michelins) parked their cars in the pits after the parade lap.

"I think what you're seeing right now is different because we have Goodyear, NASCAR, and myself sitting up here talking about how we're in it together," Chitwood said. "The goal is to make sure the fans enjoy the event, that's what it's about when they come to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"We had a challenge last year, I think the competition yellow was on lap 15 last year, so this is something we've dealt with before, but the key is to work together."