[Quality88]

FORT WORTH -- Texas Motor Speedway officials were informed by Goodyear that the tire manufacturer will utilize the same tire compound that produced dramatic racing in both Sprint Cup Series races last season for the upcoming Samsung 500 on April 6.
Following several driver complaints at Sunday's event at Atlanta Motor Speedway where the new Sprint Cup car competed for the first time, Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage reached out to Goodyear because that Speedway Motorsports Inc. sister track is nearly identical to TMS. Both are 1.5-mile ovals with 24-degree banking in the corners, among the fastest tracks on the circuit and host to the new car for the first time in competition.
"I called Goodyear and they told us they never planned to use the same tire they used in Atlanta for our upcoming race," Gossage said. "The tire they will use for the Samsung 500 will be effectively the same tire they used in Texas last year, and those two races resulted in a last-lap pass in April and a side-by-side duel for the lead down to the finish in November. Both the left-side and right-side tires will effectively use the same compound as in 2007, but with a slightly different construction for the new car. The engineers feel quite good about their plans."
NASCAR.COM - Goodyear not taking AMS tire to Texas event in April - Mar 11, 2008

[BiscuitMan]

I really take exception to NASCAR's manipulation of race tires for different tracks and even ambient temperatures for races during cooler weather. Maybe they should have a speedway tire and a short track tire. Then let the drivers used their skills to manipulate the track. Sure, there may be more spin outs or driver's loosing control... but driver's that can truly control cars that are not setup perfectly will move to the front.

NASCAR seems to want parity for all drivers. Well, right now, this is the closest we have the cup cars to IROC racing as ever before. The only difference seems to be decal design for the grill and side window shape. I'm for bringing back "identity racing" when we knew who was in the "Black 3" or the "Petty Blue 43". Every week I have to look for my driver by car number only. They seem to change sponsor's during pit stops. One week its the Office Depot 99 and the next week its the Scott's 99.