Does any other tire maker make that same size tire? Years ago when D. Gwynn was still driving he had a violent explosion and he said something like that if GOODYEAR stopped making fuel tires they (racers) would not have any tires to race with....

I agree.

If I was a paid top fuel driver, I'd certainly like to know what the heck is going on with the tires BEFORE Pomona. The season hasn't even started and there are all ready problems. How long until another accident, or someone else is killed? When will the luck run out?

Chris Andrews
ColoradoDragRacing.com

This was a thread on the Old Mater I think.... Basically, it comes down to Goodyear being the only game in town at this point, as none of those other manufacturers has made a drag racing tire that has gone over 275mph... The amount of technology and engineering (and the costs involved) necessary from Firestone, M&H, Hoosier, Toyo or any of the other manufacturers of racing tires to design and create a new nitro slick far overwhelms any possible profit that could be gained by the introduction of a new tire. Not to mention the liability insurance necessary.

Goodyear, for all their faults (if any), are lightyears ahead of any other tire manufacturer in the creation of a safe, reliable, consistant tire for drag racing. To achieve that kind of level, any other company would possibly need years of R&D to produce the same results. And, sadly enough, those results are always variables when it comes to the extremes generated in the nitro classes. Every day someone tries to make all of this safer. And every day somebody tries to go faster. That rubber band can only stretch so far.

So, he asked, can a fuel car hook up without doing a burn out? Let's say, oh, a dry hop and go.

Ask Jim Head.

Ian's right. Jim Head's been advocating dropping the burnout for some time now. He's said before that if NHRA would let him, he'd bypass the waterbox and pull to the line, and it wouldn't make any difference.

Uuhh... Scroll up a couple, Charles..

It's like dejaVu all over again..

So then, the question is, does putting the extra heat into the tire have adverse effects on the tire construction and could it lead to delamitation?

Frankie Pedregon lost a sponsorship because Toyo was going to produce one but NHRA and all of their wisdom blew that deal.
Firestone had plenty of probelms of their own with the Ford Excursion lawsuites!
The other companies would produce a T/F tire except why would they want to waste rescorces if they cant sell it?

There are some other factors in place during a burnout. I've been told that building the proper amount of heat in the clutch is critical. Observed several TF teams pushing the car though the water box at Phoenix time trials - drivers then eased into the thottle instead of doing a violent burnout.
Jim O . . . if you're watching, I'm sure we would all be interested in the dynamics involved here!

Though that Steve Federlin was testing Toyo tires when he blew one and wrecked

Lanny