Goodyear's Good Work A Problem?

It's just been announced that NASCAR and Goodyear Tires has extended their working agreement through 2017. Goodyear has been very successful over the last couple of years matching their tires to the new COT car with the results really becoming obvious this season.

The bane of NASCAR 2011 has become the fuel mileage races that are now prevalent. What’s different from years past? Look no further than the excellent tires Goodyear is supplying to the sport. I don’t have the stats but I’d venture to say the number of cautions in 2011 are generally down and that there is a direct correlation to the number of tire problem cautions. This all adds up to fuel becoming the primary variable as less cautions result in longer runs that the improved tires allow…

Even Tony hasn't been bad mouthing Goodyear's tires!

 

NASCAR just addressed the tandem drafting with some rules changes to break up this superspeedway drafting practice (we’ll see the results in a couple of weeks). Can anything be done to put a more competitive product on NASCAR’s Cup tracks given the changes these excellent tires have brought about?

Will the momentum NASCAR rebuilt with it’s improving TV ratings and higher race attendance be negated by a less appealing form of racing thanks to Goodyear’s good work?