Historical Motorsports Stories writes:

"Raining On Ovals: NASCAR's 1995 Rain Tire Experiment"

Posted by nascarman on April 21, 2020

Viewed 2480 times Tweet So why doesn't NASCAR race in the rain?



Every single time it's raining on Sunday, people invariably ask that question. There was a time that Goodyear asked that too.



Throughout its history, NASCAR never really raced in the rain. They raced in wet conditions in the only Cup race at Road America in 1956, but that's about it. And once racing tires became slicks in the mid-1960s, that possibility was gone completely.



But by the mid-1990s, people got tired of sitting around in the rain. And even worse was the possibility of a race on Monday. Before the 90s, there were enough off-weeks in NASCAR that a race could be pushed back to the next open weekend and Monday races never happened. As the schedule grew, most races couldn't be rescheduled for a week or two later and the delayed events had to be run on Mondays. With busy schedules, weekday races made everything more difficult.



So by 1995, Goodyear, NASCAR, and everyone involved started looking for ways to race in the rain like all other series. And by that summer, Goodyear developed a rain tire for NASCAR and brought one set of four tires to Watkins Glen, hoping for a shower to test them.



On Friday August 11, Goodyear got their wish and it started to rain. Without much preparation, they quickly tried to put a test together. Dale Earnhardt's crew rushed to unload their backup car and Goodyear hurried to mount the special grooved tires on rims. Unfortunately, they missed their opportunity, the sun came out and the track dried before before they could test. But rain was forecast for the following day so it didn't matter too much.



While they never got on track the first day, the tires got the attention of Mark Martin. Not only was he supportive of running them on road courses, but Mark wanted them tried on ovals as well.



"I wish we'd use them on ovals, too," Martin told Charlie Coon of the Elmira Star-Gazette. "We have to go home on Sundays. We've got another race the next week."







As expected, it rained again on Saturday and everyone was prepared. Earnhardt's backup car was ready, and so was Mark Martin's who wanted to test the tires as well.



"I'm excited about it," Earnhardt said, "and appreciate the opportunity of being a part of the first time a Winston Cup car runs on a rain tire. I think it opens a door for getting some of these races at Sears Point and Watkins Glen in."



With a light rain falling over the wet track, Earnhardt ran six laps. His best lap was a speed of 92.094 mph. After he came back to the garage, the used tires were put on Martin's car and he went on track for ten laps. Mark's best lap was a slightly quicker 92.527 mph. The drivers were encouraged.



"This was just a first test," Martin said. "There's quite a bit of development left for the tires. And there has to be a development for driver vision things."



With the first test generally considered a success, Goodyear wanted to try the rain tires on an oval next. They got their opportunity at Martinsville one month later when Friday activities were washed out. Goodyear rolled out a set of rain tires and convinced Terry Labonte's crew to unload their backup car for a brief test at the wet half-mile.



Goodyear hoped rain tires would allow races to start on damp tracks. It wasn't a plan to race in the rain but rather just eliminate waiting for the track to dry. As the rain continued to fall, Labonte acknowledged the Martinsville conditions were wetter than they hoped.



"They're trying to come up with a tire that'll work when the track isn't as wet as it is right now so the race can start on time," Labonte said.



A rain delay during practice at Martinsville led to Terry Labonte testing out Goodyear's rain-tires on an oval for the first time. (1995) pic.twitter.com/b9xuC2U4rG - NASCAR Memories (@NASCARMemories) October 29, 2017



With a steady drizzle falling, Labonte drove six laps in the wet at Martinsville. It was reported his top speed was around 70 mph. By comparison, the pole speed at the track in April was 93 mph. Labonte's lap was close to Fred Lorenzen's pole speed of 70.2 mph in April 1961. Back in the garage, the former champion had a poor grade for the tires.



"It didn't feel as good as I thought it would," he said. "That's why those Formula One guys make so much money. It felt like I was on ice. I'd go in the corner and it wouldn't turn very good. I'd get in the throttle and think it wasn't bad, then the back end would break loose."



"That's the car I'm going to race next weekend at North Wilkesboro, so I had to be careful."



After the Martinsville test, rain tires were abandoned on ovals. Two years later, they officially made their debut in the exhibition race at Suzuka, Japan where cars qualified in the rain. Once again, teams practiced with them at Watkins Glen in 2000. But rain tires weren't used in an actual race until the 2008 Nationwide Series event at Montreal. Even still, the Cup Series is yet to use rain tires in a race.







References:

*Coon, Charlie. "Rain of Terror? Not for Martin, my Hero." August 12, 1995. Elmira Star-Gazette.

*Coon, Charlie. "Drivers Make Rainy NASCAR Breakthrough." August 13, 1995. Elmira Star-Gazette

*"Rain Test" Daily Press. September 23, 1995.



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