WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Brad Keselowski was happy Saturday night at Bowman Gray Stadium, and it was not entirely due to the fact that all three RFK Racing drivers had qualified for Sunday night's Clash. He was also impressed with the tires used during the heat races.
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"The tires are falling off here, and the cars are getting really difficult to drive as they run, which I'm really pumped about," Keselowski told media members in the makeshift garage area after finishing second in his heat race.
"You're gonna see a lot more passing at the end of the race."
The heat races on Saturday night provided a small glimpse of the tire falloff that excited Keselowski. These quick battles only featured around 10 drivers and 25 laps of green-flag action, so there weren't many opportunities to test the falloff over long runs.
Cautions also disrupted the action in the first and fourth heat races as drivers wrecked each other.
Chris Buescher was the exception to the standard. He started from the pole in Heat Race 2 and led all 25 laps as the race ran without incident. This was the opposite of Keselowski's heat race, which featured three cautions for drivers spinning each other further back in the field.
This extended time at the front of the pack provided Buescher with an opportunity to see how his tires handled the aged surface at the historic track.
"I believe it's gonna be colder yet tomorrow, but I think we're gonna get to the point where you're gonna chase tire wear," Buescher said after winning his heat race. "We're gonna try to take care of stuff. We tried in the heat race.
"We tried to get a couple car lengths out and just kind of conserve from there. I think it did work. We had something left at the end just to be able to get that little bit of gap, but I would imagine that we are gonna see it fall off."
This tire setup is the same that was used at Martinsville Speedway last fall. It was designed to be much softer so that it could potentially create more falloff and lead to better passing opportunities at short tracks.
As many drivers have explained since NASCAR introduced the Gen 7 car, they want the tires to have this falloff. It puts the onus on them to manage their equipment throughout a run.
These drivers, especially the veterans, know that using up their tires early will be detrimental as the run progresses. If they manage their equipment well, they can push forward as other drivers fade.
The softer tires proved to be a step in the right direction during last season's playoff race at Martinsville Speedway. They were just overshadowed by race manipulation that led to significant penalties for multiple teams.
The hope among drivers is that the tires will also deliver falloff during a chilly Sunday night at Bowman Gray Stadium.
"I think we just hope that you can control it as a driver," Buescher continued. "If you can make a difference in that falloff, that's ideal.
"If we all fall off the same no matter what you do, then it's hard to make a difference from behind the wheel, or as big a difference, but I feel like you can be smart about it and know when to push and make decisions at the right times that if the tire will react to that, then it'll make comers and goers throughout the evening."
