IRL: Phoenix: Firestone Racing preview

Firehawks Supplied: The Firestone Racing program brought 1,026 Firestone Firehawk racing radials to Phoenix International Raceway for the Purex Dial Indy 200, enough to provide seven sets per car as determined by Indy Racing League IndyCar Series officials.

The Firehawks were produced at the Akron (Ohio) Technical Center. The left-side tire is the same as employed last year at PIR; the right side features a more durable compound to improve wear. IRL IndyCar Series "Test In The West" participants had an opportunity to evaluate the new right-side tire in February and found it to be effective on the PIR one-mile, asphalt oval.

Quote from Al Speyer, Firestone Racing Executive Director: "Phoenix is a fast, demanding track that can be very hot in the desert. We've worked hard to improve the performance of the Firestone Firehawks used here last year; based on the many positive comments we heard during Test In The West, we've done that. The new tires kept speed up and improved our long run consistency during that test. We'll now watch race performance closely."

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