Goodyear trusts proven tire setup for Sonoma

It is not every day you see a tire supplier go for the safe bet, but that is exactly what is happening at Sonoma Raceway. Goodyear is bringing the same Racing Eagle rubber that the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series ran just last weekend at San Diego’s Naval Base Coronado.

While the 1.99-mile, 12-turn layout in Northern California is a totally different beast than San Diego, the technology remains the same. The Cup Series package, introduced early last season, has already seen action this year at Circuit of The Americas, Watkins Glen International, and San Diego. For the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, the 15-inch tire setup is the same one that debuted at this very track last year.

As Rick Heinrich, Goodyear’s NASCAR product manager, put it: “While Sonoma is very different from San Diego, with significant elevation changes and a more traditional permanent road course layout, these tire setups have consistently performed on road courses, so we expect the same this weekend.” Teams will run identical specifications on both sides of the car, with wet-weather sets standing by just in case.