You remember the accusations against the NFL’s New England Patriots concerning the deflating of footballs for better grip in bad weather. The news had a field day (pardon the pun) with Deflategate.
NASCAR currently finds itself in a new version of Deflategate with the possible illegal practice of “Bleeding the tires.”
Bleeding is a form of cheating, drilling or poking nearly undetectable holes in the sides of the tires. As the cars put laps on the tires, heat builds up the pressure inside, causing expansion of the tire surface called rounding. The result is less tire surface making contact with the track causing a condition the drivers refer to as “greasy.” You will notice cars slide more in turns when this condition is present. Bleeding allows for this excess pressure to escape and keep the tire flatter and in better contact with the track surface.
“I’ve heard a lot of things with valve caps and poking holes in tires for years. But I’ve never seen it done. I’ve never had proof that it was done,” NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon told ABC News. “So it’s very interesting to me that NASCAR is investigating this further.”
In some motor sports, rules allow for a bleeder valve on the tires to release excess pressure. The theory being it allows for faster speeds and fewer tire blowouts. However, NASCAR makes no allowance and refers to this as a P5 violation that states, “Effecting, modifying and/or altering the standard tires in any way, other than through authorized means.” Penalties include the loss of 50 driver points and fines up to $125,000.00 and a six-race suspension.
Some drivers do not feel the penalty is enough. “You should be gone forever. That’s a major, major, major thing,” Denny Hamlin said to Motorsports reporter Jeff Gluck. “No room for it in the sport.”
Stewart-Hass drivers Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch, along with Penske driver Joey Logano are the common names talked about in whispers. Although NASCAR claims all inspections are a normal practice, inspections of tires have picked up and do not appear as random as they usually do. After the race in Phoenix, Harvick and Logano’s tires were taken for inspection. The following week in Fontana, Harvick and Busch again had their tires taken, but this time Richard Childress Racing’s Ryan Newman and Paul Menard had their tires taken as well.
NASCAR sent the tires to their Research and Development before sending them out to a third party for testing. Firestone is not involved in any part of the investigation, if that is what you choose to call it at this point.
The recent rumors have prompted team owner Roger Penske to make it very clear to his teams that he does not want any tampering done and he does not want his teams involved in any of the controversy. He said that no one has ever showed him proof that bleeding or any other form of tire cheating was going on by any teams. ”The only finger I’m pointing is at my own guys to make sure we’re not involved in anything like that,” Penske said. With Logano’s tires already taken once, the rumors and garage talk becomes almost impossible to stop.
Kevin Harvick’s crew chief, Rodney Childers, denied categorically that any tampering had taken place on the NO. 4 car. With Harvick’s recent streak of eight straight top two finishes stretching back to last season, Childers is not surprised at the attention. “It’s kind of flattering,” Childers, said with a chuckle. “If I was one of the other competitors and I was trying to catch the (No.) 4 car right now, I would say something. I would complain. You look at the speed we’ve had and you’ve got to say, ‘Well, what have they got different than us?’ A lot of people feel like they’re working hard on their cars and they have good cars, but they’re just trying to catch up.”
NASCAR has been quiet on the whole situation, only saying that the inspection of tires following races is a routine practice. Although Rodney Childers has said that Harvick’s tires have not just been taken the past couple races bit for the last eight.
If it is discovered that this is going on, what can NASCAR do? How do they police such an activity? Do you send every tire used in a race by all 43 teams out for inspections? Seems expensive and time consuming. NASCAR may due for a rule change allowing bleeder valves as the other motorsports do.