Blow-out or Blow-up

I received a message in the comment area at the bottom of the page a few days ago from an Alabama race fan who claimed to have come up with an idea to design a blow-out proof tire for NASCAR race cars. The fan wanted some information on how to get in touch with NASCAR so he could relay his ideas to them. The person listed their home address and phone number but didn't leave an email where I could send them a reply. As a strict policy that I adhere to, I never release any information concerning the people who email me or leave comments in my topic area.

At any rate, the race fan has a good idea, for racing series like the IRL and CART, but I don't believe that the NASCAR executives or the executives from the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co would be interested in a blow-out proof tire for NASCAR racecars.

There are several reasons why I believe this to be the case in fact. First of all, Goodyear makes a tire with an inner-liner to prevent blow-outs on tracks over one mile in distance. The reason that they only use them at these tracks is because the cars tend to carry much more speed on the larger tracks and they feel that the inner-liner will prevent damage to property and save lives of drivers and fans alike. On the short tracks they feel that blowouts are an acceptable and are a part of the pitfalls of racing.

Secondly, The recent trends by NASCAR and Goodyear to make softer tires that wear out quicker and tend to need changing more often make me believe that they could care less if the tires blow out or not. Goodyear could design a blow-out proof tire for racing if they, or NASCAR, wanted them too, but it appears that this isn't the case, or it would have already been done.

As an example, look at the Firestone and Bridgestone tires used in the IRL and Formula One. How many times have any of you ever seen an IRL racecar have a blow-out? I'm sure it has happened a time or two, but it certainly doesn't occur anywhere near as much as it does in NASCAR. The IRL cars travel at speeds much higher than those common in NASCAR racing and their aerodynamic qualities are such that they put much more pressure on the tires that the NASCAR racecars do.

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