Biffle fawns over new tire after two-day test at AMS AMPTON, Ga. -- Encouraged by the results from a two-day Goodyear tire test at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Greg Biffle expects side-by-side racing will be the rule of the day at AMS for the March 8 race.
AMPTON, Ga. -- Encouraged by the results from a two-day Goodyear tire test at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Greg Biffle expects side-by-side racing will be the rule of the day at AMS for the March 8 race.
Biffle, who was testing at the 1.54-mile oval along with Juan Montoya, Sam Hornish Jr. and Scott Speed, believes Goodyear is in the process of developing a tire that will allow drivers to race in any groove, just like "the old Atlanta."
"I am extremely happy with the tire that Goodyear has brought here to test," said Biffle, who finished third in the points standings last year. "They have a new left-side compound that puts a lot of driveability into the car."
While the March 2008 race was overshadowed by tire concerns, Biffle believes the new tire will allow AMS to again be one of the most competitive tracks.
"The old tire [in March] lost grip running on the bottom after five to eight laps," said Biffle, whose best time in the test was a lap of 187.045 mph. "But this tire really hooks up to the bottom of the track for an extend run and you're not sliding all over the place. It's more like the old Atlanta that all of [the drivers] like."
Montoya also had praise for the tire. "I think [Goodyear] has brought a lot of different tire possibilites here and each one is different, but they are all improvements in different ways," he said. "It is encouraging that they are doing what they can to help us and it has been really good.
"What we are running right now is incredibly fast," Montoya added. "When you get here in March with the heat, you will be sliding a lot more. We are just trying to find a tire that is more predictable."
