BUSCH: Darlington II: Goodyear preview

NASCAR Winston Cup Series - Race No. 25 - Mountain Dew Southern 500
NASCAR Busch Series - Race No. 25 - South Carolina 200
Darlington Raceway (1.366-mile oval) - Darlington, S.C.

Fast Facts for August 29-31, 2003
Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials

Number of Tires Required:
Winston Cup: Left - 1,300, Right - 1,300
Busch Series: Left - 500, Right - 500

Tire Codes: Left - D-6340; Right - D-6342

Tire Circumference: Left - 87.3 in.; Right - 88.6 in.

Technical Inspection Inflation:
Left Front - 26 psi; Left Rear - 26 psi
Right Front - 40 psi; Right Rear - 38 psi

Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front - 20 psi; Left Rear - 20 psi
Right Front - 36 psi; Right Rear - 33 psi

Estimated Pit Window: Every 62-66 laps, based on fuel mileage.

Notes: This is the same combination of left- and right-side tires Goodyear has brought to Darlington since March 2001 . . . both the NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Series will compete on the same tires this weekend . . . this is the second straight week and the sixth time this season Winston Cup teams have run on this combination . . . NASCAR tracks where teams have run these tires in 2003 are Rockingham (February 23), Las Vegas (March 2) and Darlington (March 16), and Bristol (March 23 and August 23) . . . as on all NASCAR ovals longer than one mile, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Darlington . . . inner liner inflation should be 12-25 psi higher than that of the outer tire.

Goodyear Quote -- Mark Keto, Lead Engineer, Stock Car Tire Development:
"This particular tire set-up is perhaps the most versatile in the 2003 Goodyear lineup. It is used at a high-speed, concrete short track (Bristol), a relatively new one-and-a-half-mile speedway (Las Vegas) and two older, more abrasive speedways (Rockingham and Darlington). The rough track surface at Darlington causes a lot of wear on tires and results in significant time give-up over the course of a full fuel run. Because of this, we will have four-tire stops throughout this weekend's races. The top teams at Darlington will be those that have the best chassis set-ups and the drivers who best save their tires for late in a run."

-goodyear-