Tire Wars: NASCAR's Asphalt Battlefield
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 พ.ค. 2018
- Tire Wars is proudly presented by University of Racing Legends Die-Cast. Visit them at universityofracing.com
Beginning in 1988, Goodyear and Hoosier competed to be NASCAR's fastest tire manufacturer. The competition between brands brought higher speeds but also higher dangers. Both companies were guilty of bringing unreliable tires to races and putting competitors in danger. Driver injuries skyrocketed and teams lost confidence in their tires.
Tire Wars is the dramatic story of tire development, tragedy, and competition which ended with Hoosier's withdrawal at the end of 1994. This documentary recaps the battle between brands, a dramatic but overlooked aspect of NASCAR's modern era.
*****
All rights reserved. No copyright infringement intended. This video is non-monetized and used as fair-use for historical purposes.
Footage Owned By:
NASCAR
ESPN- Speedweek, Motorweek Illustrated
TNN- Inside Winston Cup Racing
TBS
CBS
WFMY-TV - Pit Road Preview
Photo Credits:
Smyle Media
- Don Hunter
- Sam Sharpe/thesharpimage.com
Broadcasters Appearing in Archival Footage
-Roger Ward -Benny Phillips
-Chris Economaki -Mike Joy
-Larry Nuber -John Kernan
-Jerry Punch -Dick Berggren
-Ken Squier -Randy Pemberton
-Dave Despain -Pat Patterson
-Bob Varsha -Benny Parsons
-Bob Jenkins -Mike Hogewood
-Ned Jarrett
Appearing in Archival Interviews:
-Davey Allison -Darrell Waltrip
-Bob Newton -Bill Elliott
-Leo Mehl -Chip Williams
-Neil Bonnett -Wayne Torrance
-Lake Speed -Ray Hill
-Geoff Bodine -Dave Marcis
-Benny Parsons -Dale Earnhardt
If someone ever teaches a NASCAR 101 course, this video should be required viewing. I've heard of the tire wars, but I didn't know it was THIS bad.
I learned a lot.
It was all prejudice, money, and "loyalty." In the Hoosier years, they were using the same tires on most of the same tracks, on practically the same cars in ARCA. They wouldn't listen to the Hoosier engineers that their tires needed a bit of adjustment in the set-ups they were running on the other tires.
NASCAR encouraged Hoosier to stay in the sport by working with ARCA. Purely self intrest, they wanted someone who could step right in if the other guys pulled out.
Now that Hoosier was bought by General tire, who is owned by Continental, who sponsors an IMSA (owned by NASCAR) series, it's not the, "company not mentioned" anymore.
I’m not convinced that the Charlotte race wasn’t some of the most business savvy stuff that Goodyear has ever done.
Both companies have insufficient tires, Goodyear pulls out in the name of “safety” and brings a slower, but safer tire. Hoosier’s a tiny company, and they don’t have the resources to completely scrap a set - and Goodyear knows that. So the whole field is on unsafe tires, and hoosier’s getting drug through the mud.
Meanwhile, Goodyear’s over there going “aw that’s too bad. We’re so committed to safety here at Goodyear”
Hoosier also refused to research making a radial tire. Said so in the documentary. Sure, Goodyear's tactics were pretty sleazy, but Hoosier had too much pride to try to adapt and continue to take it to them.
No doubt Goodyear had the money to play that long PR game and games in general on the race track, meanwhile Hoosier was stuck on that do or die course of decisions due to the fact they were a much smaller mom and pop company. I can't say I blame Hoosier for hesitating on coming up with a radial tire, radial slicks actually were very controversial when Goodyear first debuted them in racing.
Dave Despain was right. It was a kamikaze mission.
Just my opinion, NASCAR and Goodyear were partners and NASCAR was just throwing Hoosier a bone when since they asked them to get ready when the stock thing happened. Hoosier got screwed
You know it used to be that competition supposedly made each tire company make better and better tires.....
But the opposite actually happened
When I watch old NASCAR videos I can't help but feel bad for those drivers having to hit concrete walls and not having a Hans restraining device. And that might sound soft but I don't care I feel bad for them.
It isn’t soft to feel bad
Five drivers died from hitting the wall in 2001, so I don't blame you.
I feel more angry honestly, seeing as the first types of HANS were made in the early 1980's. Drivers had more than enough time to get it and use it for safety but a huge majority decided not to and Nascar was shockingly incompetent until Blaise Alexander died in 2001. So many more lives could have been saved.
I remember Tony Stewart would get frustrated with Goodyear now and then and call for the return of free-market tire competition in NASCAR.
Hoosier could do it today because they are a subsidiary of Continental Tires and have the financial backing to fully develop really good tires for nascar.
Another superb documentary. I wish you would have at least included a mention of the 2008 brickyard 400 tire debacle. Competition cautions every 10 laps because the tires were failing, proves that serious problems can still occur even without a tire war.
Not just NASCAR suffers from it. 3 years in 2005 on the same track, F1 had a 6 car race due to a tire problem.
Yeah they are not the only initiator for sloppily done tires but every "tire war" ended up with an insane amount of problems due to the tires.
I remember that. There was big talk about putting a chicane at the end of each straightaway that's year for the 400.
Another solid piece of work, my friend. Love it.
Judging from what I’m seeing today, Hoosier won the “war”
Hoosiers are basically the ONLY tire used in dozens of series’. I only see Goodyear on NASCAR sanctioned cars nowadays
The funny thing is, Goodyear doesn't need competition from Hoosier to provide their Popcorn brand race tires. Next video should be a compilation of interviews and wasted races from 1995 to current at the hands of Goodyear.
Haha, When guys were blowing tires at Texas last month, I was thinking the timing of this is perfect
More than half of that would be by Tony Stewart.
@David Pietras GoodYear almost got the boot from NASCAR because of that farce of a race.
Tire wars not just in NASCAR but in racing in general is a double edged sword: The good that comes out of it is it leads to innovation, the bad is the tire makers take too many chances trying to get a leg up over one another and danger can follow!
WOW! I've been a big NASCAR fan for a long time and this as well as your Tim Richmond documentary were nothing short of phenomenal. Love learning new things when they are presented as high quality as what you've been doing, I sincerely hope there will be even more to come.
I remember in the first Nascar Racing game by Papyrus on PC you could choose between Goodyear and Hoosier tires
Tire wars: evidence there's some very specific situations where a monopoly is a good thing
Great job. I met with Bob Newton in 1995 at the Bristol race, they were considering a return in 96. My auto mechanics teacher had worked for Hoosier in the 80s and was going to go back to work for them and had me a job lined up. Pretty much a dream job for any "good ole boy" mechanic....wasn't meant to be.
Man that part of JD at Watkins sends chills down my spine knowing what happens in a few years to him. Still my favorite journeyman driver besides Micheal
One thing that was missing from the 1988 Coca-Cola 600 was the accident involving Buddy Baker. Where he suffered a injury that was not discovered until the Watkins Glen race weekend. The injury caused a blood clot to form on his brain.
Thank you!! I cannot imagine the amount of effort that went into this to tell this story. I learned a ton. Got emotional a few times.. Unbelievable job.
Another solid piece of work, my friend. Love it.
Fantastic Documentary, really well done. Much appreciate the effort and work you guys put into it! Thank you very much
I know he was talking about the ARCA cars ran the '89 ARCA 200 without a hitch but Bill and Dale had a problem. It's because both cars are set up differently, one is faster than the other and they both had different rules for building the cars.
I really enjoyed this!~ Thanks for all your work~ :)
Love these documentaries you put together man! Thank you so much, I’d pay for these!
These documentaries are amazing. Thanks so much. Keep it up
Well done. A bittersweet documentary, so many tragedies but also great to see and hear the legends I grew up with.
Its crazy how all of these stories are intertwined; the most dangerous weekend(s) in NASCAR history, 1994 Daytona Speedweeks and the war of tires being right in the middle of things. Its nuts. Great job on this video!
Simply Amazing!
-Timothy
Great video - GREAT history that all racing fans should see.
Absolutely loved this!
Dude these are QUALITY docs you're posting, i love the hell out of them!
Now i'm wondering what will happen in 2020 when NASCAR takes more control over ARCA. NASCAR has a deal with GoodYear & ARCA has a deal with Hoosier so a deal's going to have to be made somewhere. They said there won't be any real changes (in ARCA) in 2019 because those plans are pretty much already in place, but the real adjustment period will start in 2020 (whatever that means.)
ARCA made a switch to General Tires....
Great job as usual!
Awesome and fascinating video as usual!
I've heard a little bit about the tire wars in NASCAR, but I didn't expect it to be THAT bad! Your video made me know more about the infamous tire wars and why it was both costly and potentially lethal. No wonder why NASCAR signed an exclusive contract with Goodyear.
As of today, the only racing series that has tire wars is Super GT although unlike NASCAR's tire wars, Super GT's tire wars were more successful.
Great work, as usual 😊
These are awesome! You've gotta do some Voiceover, so I can watch them and listen in the background while I work up here in the NASCAR building.
Dude, my voice would only take away from it, Haha
Good method of telling a compelling story.
As a fan and someone who loves racing history, it’s crazy to me how serious and competitive (and sometimes tragic and sad) this type of stuff gets. Racing is unique for sure
This was impressive, I never knew that the tire war was this embroiled. 👍🏻
Well done!
This is why it’s best to have just one tire manufacturer supplying teams.
Great documentary
5:55 Neil lauding his Hoosiers with Goodyear stitching on his firesuit
Great Job!
Excellent video.
The Radial tire introduction ended the first tire war in Goodyear’s favor
I've been an avid NASCAR fan since the early 80's. This is the most comprehensive video I've seen about the tire wars. Thank you for the time and effort you put into this.
Great research!
Anyone else find it interesting Bonnett taking an 87 model Pontiac to the Australia race?
Great job.
That was cool to see Steve Byrnes. Rip.
Good old Calder park thunderdome in Melbourne Victoria Australia in that clip there thanks for that here mate
Here are the lines from Tina Monzon-Palma on the GMA Headline News concerning Hossier's Disqualification in August 1988:
"After almost a month since Goodyear disqualified, it was Hoosier's turn to be disqualified. NASCAR took the same infraction that barred Goodyear from last month's Pocono Race which the Hoosiers were too wide."
Goodyear is plenty capable of messing up tires without competition. See 2008 Brickyard 400. NASCAR should have canned Goodyear immediately and brought back Hoosier.
That's the only black mark Goodyear has on their rap sheet since they became the sole supplier. Plus, that didn't lead to any injuries or deaths, though that was mostly due to NASCAR's repeated competition cautions. Sure, it was awful, but not enough to can them immediately. I was more pissed at NASCAR for how they handled the fallout.
@@rubatowolf1170 The only black mark on Goodyear's record since Hoosier left for good, that's laughable! Granted they rarely have safety issues, but they at least a 1/3rd of the time bring a shit tire to the track that makes the racing suck. Everybody always blames the aero package of the cars, its usually the truth at mile and a half tracks everywhere else its usually the shitty Goodyear tires!
I remember post race 2008 Brickyard 400, Tony Stewart known for not having a filter and speaking both his mind and the truth lost his shit on camera over Goodyear's shit tire for the race. Tony threw Goodyear under the bus and suggested bringing back Hoosier. Goodyear being the "Official" tire of "NASCAR" supplying all the teams with free tires made JGR pay for Tony's tires the rest of the season. Punishing JGR for Tony expressing his 1st amendment rights under the US constitution that's BS, JGR should've sued Goodyear! Better yet NASCAR should put a loophole in their tires rules that if Goodyear wants to charge a team for tires that team should be allowed to purchase tires elsewhere for competition and test those tires anywhere for R&D purposes.
Worst "race" ever!
@@rubatowolf1170 I recall 2005 Pocono and Charlotte had bad tire problems which were called 'Tiregate' even in NASCAR's official record books before Indy 2008, and there was also the 2008 Fall Talladega race where Tyres would have been the big negative talking point of the day if not for the bullshit finish. There's also been alot of scenarios where Goodyear simply miss the mark and bring tires that are either too soft or too hard, a good example being Fontana 2014 where the tires were so soft that they were cutting way too fast on the abrasive surface.
Seems like every year or so Goodyear fucks up a race or three but usually it's not to the level now that it was during their peak mid-2000's incompetence where it would single-handedly derail an entire weekend, nowadays it just adds to the already-hard-to-overtake cars or compromises two or three unlucky drivers' days. They came close to having a really bad weekend at Bristol dirt but between the qualifying being rained out and the issues with the track needing constant redflags for surface maintenance they dodged a huge bullet.
unrelated to the tire wars but that section on the 94 Winston Select, what the hell was Irvin thinking trying to cut through the grass to pass Bodine? Musta thought he was Earnhardt or something lol
take your negativity else where
@ThePatUltra dya remember Ernie gettin trouble from a good few drivers for causing wrecks and almost wrecks - then his "tearful" apology i think at a drivers meeting...??
I always had respect for Ernie havin the balls to stand up an talk to all the drivers like that. I think the clip is on youtube.
Hope ur good.
That's back when the drivers were men! Not all these whinny ass drivers today that are too chicken shit to cross the line to find out where that line of right and wrong is and admitting they were in the wrong when they were in the wrong. I call today's Cup drivers the snowflake generation of drivers and Kyle Busch is the biggest one because he cries like a baby bitching and moaning even when he wins the damn race!
Pass in the grass II maybe. Irvan was gonna do anything to win. The Winston was a race where points didn't matter, it was money and glory. Mostly money. Speaking of which, Ernie was challenging Earnhardt for the title in 1994 and probably would have won it, but a practice crash at Michigan in August took him out of the hunt with life threatening injuries. He made a comeback by 1995, but 1994 was probably his peak year.
Trying to be like davey allison except he didnt win
This is why the FIA decided to let Michelin voluntarily eliminate themselves as a tire supplier after the 2005 F1 season, tire wars always make racing more dangerous.
Except Muchelin didn't quit until after 2006.
The Charlotte debacle reminds me of the 2005 Indy F1 GP where Michilin wasn't able to provide a safe tire for their teams, that was a farce.
It's funny I see all this an I tune to watch Nascar now every once in awhile and there always seems to be a blowout or two every race, no tire war required.
The 8th Year of NASCAR Racing on Philippine Television saw the 1988 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series tire wars between The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and the Ebok Ala of the USA, the Hoosier Tire Company. The NASCAR Tire Wars, which was observed by GMA Radio-Television Arts, was a headline in GMA Balita with the late Helen Vela, Mike Lacalinao, and Rene Jose, and the GMA Headline News with Tina Monzon-Palma, Ramon Tulfo, and the late Jose Mari Velez
Meanwhile, the 9th and 14th Years of NASCAR Racing on Philippine Television saw Hoosier backed out in the middle of the 1989 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season that became the headline for GMA Balita and the GMA Headline News, but they returned and later withdrawn again after the 1994 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. Goodyear has not withdrawn from NASCAR for more than 3 decades, so a possible tire war in IndyCar won't happen until the 3rd decade of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium at the earliest
They had monster energy in 88?
I've been wondering for a few years now why NASCAR doesn't allow tire brands to compete in racing. Now I know. But with NASCAR buying ARCA I wonder what impact could occur between Goodyear and Hoosier/General Tire.
I’m sure nothing because it’s all business right now and race tires don’t really relate to road cars. Business is boring. If the right owners buy the sport possibly we can see another “Tire War” and more exciting things like this video and seasons like this. I do agree safety is number one. Video is awesome!
20:19
When in 1989 had refferences of memes on 2019
Excellent and very informative. Not being an engineer, but seems to me there is much more to this story. Were drivers and their various setups factored in also ? While I knew Hoosier was a small company (as I am a Hoosier ) I never dreamed they had but 16 employees then. I find it amazing they were able to accomplish what they did . At least that's what the graphic showed .
Very weird watching without Brock Beards excellent narration.
just got off nascar heat 3, interesting tires on the xtreme dirt cars..........
It's Hoosier across the board for dirt from midgets all the way up to late models and 402 sprints.
I think a tire wear these days would be a bit better. Hoosier is a bigger brand now, but I could see Michelin or Firestone supplying a competent tire for 2021 with the more "Sports Car" style wheels we've seen on the Next Gen testing photos. These days, the car are much safer, and with all the data & technology involving tires, we would see the tires still being reasonably safe. Not quite sure it'd work very well with the new rules however about a specific set of tires allowed.
Maybe teams could have a tire budget, which means a cheaper tire could allow you to have more sets, such that if it's a little slower, you might make it up on the ability to swap tires more often.
Smart business thinking 101... basically almost putting themselves (Goodyear) out of business by overpaying to prevent a takeover.
My grandfather worked for Firestone for 16 years, and the plant he worked at closed along with a slew of others in 1980 as a result of the company making piss poor decisions and building a road tire so poorly it almost bankrupted the company.
As for the video... It is well informed and captivating. I got into NASCAR around the tail end of the first Hoosier Goodyear go around, and damn... I knew it was ugly but not to the extent it was in reality. I'm shocked a driver didn't die during 1988 and 1989.
It was scary listening to dale sr take about them hitting the wall just right, not knowing just a couple years later he would hit the wall just right himself...
In the 2005 United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis, Michelin had problems with their tires because of accidents in turn 13 when Ralf Schumacher crashed during Friday practice in that turn & walked away uninjured. By Sunday 7 teams are on Michelins agreed not to race & after the warm up laps 14 drivers drove to the pits & not racing leaving 6 drivers in the race,all on Bridgestones.
Excellent video. Could you make video of The Talladega Curse?
I remember all of this. Like a no limit poker game, Goodyear bought it
Very well done...
Here are the lines from the Late Jose Mari Velez on the GMA Headline News concerning Goodyear's Disqualification in July 1988:
"Bill Elliott may have won the Pocono 500, but Goodyear was disqualified as Goodyear Racing head Leo Mehl knew that NASCAR discovered there were illegal Goodyear tires. Therefore, it was the first NASCAR Race without Goodyear in more than 30 Years."
Competition that got a little out of hand. Sure, they made faster tires, but somehow safety got compromised. And in the end, drivers were the weak link. 1988 was rough. 1994 was more tragic. 2008 might not have had anything to do with this, but Goodyear brought a tire to Indy that wore out to quick partly because of the COT being bigger and heavier and an abrasive racing surface. A pretty good documentary.
Wish it went into more detail about the actual tires, the tech of the day, compounds used etc. but overall a great general overview of the tire wars.
3:00 - maaaan who taught Donnie to talk like that?? [Yeah i know its 'Bob Newton', i just didnt realise Donnie Allison had an alter-ego]. Great vid (like always) and hope ur all good.
I knew at 1 time Hendrick motorsports ran with Hoosier tires!
wow Exxon Superflo motor oil-tide detergent-ac delco.
Considering that Dale would be the next NASCAR Cup Series driver to lose his life at the track 7 years later, ihis comment about the car hitting the wall just right would ultimately be a tragic irony.
Narito ang mga linya ni Helen Vela sa GMA Balita ukol sa disqualification ng Goodyear noong Hulyo 1988:
"Nanalo si Bill Elliott sa Pocono 500, pero na-diskwalipika ang Goodyear nang nagpagalamang masyadong maluwag. Sinabi ni Leo Mehl ng Goodyear na hindi niya nagustuhan ang unang NASCAR Race na hindi kinarera ng Goodyear sa loob ng mahigit 30 taon."
8:41 I'm not sure if he had help from a relief driver but Rudd made the 600 the next week and never missed a race. Because he's the man.
he held his eyes open with toothpicks my dad told me that story
In 2022 GoodYear tires has a lot of issues with the next gen car.
Neil Bonnett seemed like a goid man.
They have a new car, did away with 50 years of development and tradition, yet kept the cars at over 3400 lbs. No wonder it's so tough to bring a fast yet safe tire. Drop the cars' weight and the racing would improve IMO.
There is ample evidence that tire wars kill and mame, every major series should have a single tire supplier. Speed becomes the sole goal and safety takes a backseat. F1 lesrned the lesson at indy, nascar learned its lesson in the 90s.
'Lost air rapidly' my ass.
1994 sucked for motor racing we lost 2 drivers in Nascar and in Formula 1 such a bad year
In 1989 Goodyear introduced Eagle radial Tire give credit to NASCAR Winston Cup Series Busch Grand National Series and ARCA Permatex Super Car Series we like to say the best tires in the world have Goodyear written all over them my favorite racing Tire in IndyCar belongs to Goodyear from the 70s 80s and early 90s after the tragic demise Firestone Tire withdrew from racing
Mark Allen looked like Jim Carrie as Bruce Almighty almost
They have a choice as to which tire they want. That's better than a one brand monopoly. Let both brands run and race teams pick. The American way
Who is that doing the recap of the Winston in 1988?
29:09 Hey it’s Mike Hogewood
Narito ang mga linya ni Helen Vela sa GMA Balita ukol sa disqualification ng Hoosier noong Agosto 1988:
"Halos isang buwan na mula nang madiskwalipika ang Goodyear sa Pocono, ang Hoosier naman ang pinaruhasan. Pinataw ng NASCAR ang disqualification ng Hoosier na parehong dinanas ng Huli noong nakaraang buwan dahil masyadong maluwag daw ang mga gulong mula sa Hoosier."
If Michelin, Pirelli, Firestone and Continental joined the sport, competition would have changed racing forever!
Lord Allmighty! Pirelli and Michelin? FIA fan maybe?
I’m related to Morgan Shepard’s crew chief
young dave despain
People actually died during these tire wars... Can't forget about that.
A company with obviously less resources, by a factor of thousands, like HOOSIER should have NEVER been allowed to put tires on these cars. Greed killed these drivers.
lol the entire field qualified faster than the track record
Damn, is that Steve Byrnes at 20:53?
Yup
Paused it to say the same thing.
"Inside Winston Cup Racing" on TNN was the name of that show. He was basically the co-host alongside Ned Jarrett. Watched it every morning before every race back in the day.
How shook Waltrip was at the end of the 600 was crazy
He was always a drama queen 😂
32:52 And on February 18, 2001, your car hit the wall just right.
Perelli ... ..................... Perrrrr
Ya know what you get out of a Goodyear street tire????.......
One good year
You hate that Hoosier couldn’t hang in there.
GOODYEAR Racing went downhill when Leo Mehl retired , there’ a shell of what they were
NASCAR might have another tire war soon.