CUP STARS SLAM GOODYEAR.(Competition)

Byline: Al Pearce

Some of NASCAR's biggest stars gave Goodyear a public beat-down at Atlanta Motor Speedway. They were bitter in their criticism of the company with three years remaining on its contract as NASCAR's exclusive tire supplier, a company they said failed to get the tire setup right for the race. Drivers' anger and frustration boiled over after what they said were 500 of the worst miles some have ever endured.

First, two-time Cup champ and race runner-up Tony Stewart: "I've been racing 28 years, and I've been in a lot of professional series, and I've never seen the quality of racing like I've seen this weekend. That was the most pathetic tire I've ever been on in my career. [Goodyear] exited out of Formula One, IRL, CART and the World of Outlaws, and there's a reason: They can't build a tire worth a crap. It was ridiculous having to race on a tire like this. If they can't do anything better than that, Goodyear should pull out and save us a bunch of headaches.''

Next, third-place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr.: "I don't think the race was all that exciting. We couldn't run side by side, or we'd wreck. We had to let each other go by. No amount [of testing] would have prepared us for that. There was no way you were going to hook that tire up, because it was way too hard. Goodyear doesn't like to hear drivers bash them, and I don't like to . . . but I'm not going to just sit here and take this.''

And this from four-time champion Jeff Gordon, normally among the last to criticize anything openly: "That was the hardest day I've ever had here, especially for a top-five. There just wasn't a good setup. I felt like I was going to crash every lap. I'm exhausted; I feel like I've run a thousand miles, and there's no reason for it. But it's not any one person's or group's fault. This car on this tire at this track was terrible. This is a combination problem, so [all] parties need to take responsibility.''

The problem stemmed mostly from a change in what Goodyear brought to Atlanta for an October test and what it brought back for the race. Justin Fantozzi, the company's racing marketing manager, said engineers worried about excessive wear after a second test in December. So Goodyear built a harder right-side tire and brought a left-side tire that provided more grip. Stewart said teams didn't have enough information until shortly before the race. Fantozzi said the data were available in January and that engineers answered questions about the tire in mid-February.

"We do the best we can with the data set we have, and we bring the safest tires we know how to build,'' Fantozzi said. "But we have 43 drivers and 43 crew chiefs and 30 owners, so that's about 120 different opinions on what we need. We're partners with NASCAR in the series, but we're the tire authority, so they let us do our job.''