Goodyear Introduces New Top Fuel/Funny Car Tire

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Mon, 2 Jun 2008, 10:52 AM

Goodyear Introduces New Tire for NHRA's Two Top Drag Racing Categories

Courtesy of Lee Elder

AKRON, Ohio -- The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's racing division announced today the introduction of the next-generation rear drive tire for the NHRA's Top Fuel and Funny Car categories.

The D2550 will be offered for optional use during the June 19-22 Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals at Englishtown, New Jersey and the June 26-29 Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Norwalk, Ohio. It will be the only offering for those applications beginning at the MOPAR Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado July 11-13.

Goodyear's current tire, D2420, will also be available for use at Englishtown and Norwalk.

Leading NHRA drivers worked with Goodyear engineers during the development procedure. Carolyn Ashbee, Goodyear's sales account manager for drag racing, said driver input was an important part of the process.

"Our development process is always ongoing," Ashbee said. "Our team has a continuing data stream from drivers and team representatives. We couple that information with our own observations week in and week out to develop continuing advancements in tire technology." The new D2550 tire incorporates a revised sidewall construction and a new tread compound.

The Top Fuel drivers involved in developing the D2550 included five-time NHRA POWERade world champion Tony Schumacher, Cory McClenathan, Morgan Lucas, Rod Fuller, David Grubnic, Clay Millican and Whit Bazemore.

The Funny Car drivers who tested and gave feedback to Goodyear included 14-time NHRA POWERade world champion John Force, Ashley Force, Tony Pedregon, Phil Burkart, Jr., Gary Scelzi, Del Worsham, Ron Capps and Tim Wilkerson.

The new tire replaces the D2420, which was introduced at Gainesville in 2006.

"The process used in the development of the new tire means the tire will be familiar to many of the drivers already," said Ashbee. The D2550 is a new tire, but many teams have been involved in the development program."