BRISTOL, Tenn. — The changes to the Goodyear tire compound created questions heading into Sunday's race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
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Two Cup Series champions still don't fully know what to make of the tire changes, but they are certainly willing to give a passing grade after completing 505 laps at the .533-mile track.
"I thought it was good. It clumped the bottom like crazy," Ryan Blaney said after finishing second behind first-time winner Ty Gibbs. "The top came in. I thought it was a pretty good tire personally.
"We've got to keep working on the car itself in dirty air, for sure, but I thought the tire was pretty good. It's weird. I didn't think it fell off a ton, but it clumped and put a lot of rubber down, so I don't know what to think about that."
Goodyear changed the tires to decrease the wild swings in wear based on the temperature. The goal would be to provide some form of consistency after four races with varying levels of wear.
"I think the tire laid down more rubber on the surface than I thought it would," Kyle Larson said. "So it was actually easier, I thought, to pass lappers than normal. I ended up being really happy with the tires — I don't know what others thought.
"I'm sure race fans are going to have their opinion and want the chaos of the other stuff that we used to have, but I thought it was a great race."
Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney had the dominant cars. They both ended up short of victory lane after Ty Gibbs gambled and stayed out.
Kyle Larson explains why it worked. pic.twitter.com/UtEuzpTtWp— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) April 12, 2026
The practice session on Saturday made it appear that the tires would lay down some rubber while drivers would still be able to go more than 30 laps on a set. The drivers expected track position to be far more important than increased horsepower or new tire compounds.
This partially proved to be the case on Sunday. Drivers saw little wear during the early stages, which created more conversations about strategy and staying out after cautions.
Carson Hocevar's team, for example, said after the first pit stop of the day that the left-front tire had the most wear. The team said the other three had barely any wear.
Some teams took advantage of the ability to run long as the end of the race approached. They saw opportunities to gamble by staying out while others headed down pit road.
#NASCAR - Chase Briscoe is very happy he qualified in the top three. He believes the Cup race could be reminiscent of those where Kyle Larson led more than 400 laps and won.
He expects this to be all track position based on the tire wear they saw during practice. pic.twitter.com/0mcoTeWmJm— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) April 11, 2026
Gibbs stayed out on old tires and held off both Blaney and Larson to get his first win. Todd Gilliland made a two-tire stop to gain significant track position, and he mostly maintained. Instead of finishing in the back half of the pack, he crossed the line in sixth place.
"I'm proud of my crew chief, Chris (Lawson) with those calls," Gilliland said. "We were on the same page for two tires. Immediately when the caution came out, I said, 'I think two tires or even stay out here.'
"I'm thankful he didn't let me stay out, but two tires was definitely the right call and I'm just really proud."
The race at Bristol didn't quite have the same level of passes for the lead. Blaney likely would have led the majority of laps if not for multiple issues on pit road. Yet, drivers throughout the field had opportunities to keep making moves.
Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Gibbs, Blaney, and Noah Gragson are only some of the drivers who were able to move through the field when needed.
This race did not feature a follow-the-leader format as the Truck Series race on Friday night, and they didn't solely rely on the bottom lane.
They moved up by the fence at times, and they ran down by the apron in other situations. Gibbs used the top line to hold off Blaney and Larson on two separate late restarts.
"I watched Reddick bomb it up top and almost pass me," Gibbs said during his post-race press conference. "I made sure I had to get up there next time. Obviously we had another restart. I just stuck it up top and hammered down from there.
"He had hammered the top and had a lot of grip still, which is surprising because it didn't look like it at all. I just stuck the top and hammered down from there."
Of course, the big question now is whether this trend will continue with the fall race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Will the tires have the same level of wear — or lack thereof — when Cup Series teams return in mid-September?
They don't have this answer just yet, but so far, they are happy with this change by Goodyear.
