Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

The Hoosier tire that we are made to run nowadays in wing sprints are absolutely pathetic there's no consistency in size and the construction has definitely changed from last season even though the Hoosier reps said nothing has changed but as we all know there is most definitely been a change. Unfortunately they can do whatever they want and we have to run what ever they decide to send to us because of all the sanctioning bodies and tracks taking a payoff from Hoosier to be the exclusive tire. Back in the good old days when we had 3 tire manufacturers to choose from the tires were so much better and would last you a couple races because competition makes them all better. I sure do wish we could run whatever brand we want to run in wing sprints. This is one reason the BOSS non wing series has so many followers cause you can run whatever tire you want for this I really applaud Aaron Fry for putting his drivers and teams first and not giving into the big Hoosier payoff money. I sure do miss running a consistent tire like the good ole AMERICAN RACER. 

I agree.  Hoosiers were OK when they first got back in and were competing to get business.  But they're not good at all now for the reasons you mention.  I would be curious to know what type of deals they have with the various sanctions and tracks.  All it does is hurt racers.  

I miss the days of the DP Motorsports 8d car with Wolfie behind the wheel with Hoosier, Goodyear and McCreary tires all bolted on the car at once.....

But those days are long gone.  None of the tire companies want it ot be open competition either, there aren't enough teams to make it worth their while to only supply 1/3 of them.  They need 100% or to not be in the business at all it seems.

I miss the days of run what you brung. Lets not turn dirt into a waterd down version of napcar. Let the boys have at it. Run any tire you want. I know the tracks are bankin $ on the tire deals but thats going down the wrong path. Mic drop

Could the purchase of Hoosier Tire by Continental AG last October have any effect? IIRC Hoosier was going to have some of its operations taken over by General Tire, which is also owned by Continental.

Call the Wambulance.  Quit your crying and go work on your car, oh you probably don't even race.

Rich M

TiremanT,

We are noticing that this season in the IMCA cars as well with the Hoosier tire. Earlier this season I even had a modified driver call me to his pit area because he wanted to show me something. He had two identical tires, one from last year and one from this year. They were both brand new. He grinded them the exact same way. He told me to slide my hand across the tire and tell me what I noticed (he didn't tell me one was from last year and one was from this season until after his little experiment).

The tire from this year seemed like a plastic rock compared to the one from last season. He said he is burning through tires like crazy with the "new" tires from this season. He said he is saving what he has left from last year for the specials at the end of the season. This same driver runs the parts trailer at our track so he sells the tires. He said he has talked to Hoosier and they claim no change, but like someone else mentioned the driver believes the makeup of the tires changed after Continental AG purchased Hoosier. Because the tires have less grip, guys are spinning the tires more, burning them up more, and leading to more rubber down tracks.

Heck, even look at Knoxville this season. I can count on one hand the amount of times Knoxville has gone rubber down in the last 15-20 years before this season. If I'm not mistaken we have seen 3-4 rubber down tracks at Knoxville this season alone.

I totally agree with "run whatcha brung" & "free choice", but Money Talks, & none of us are sponsoring these races (Except by buying tix & T-shirts, & I doubt if we're willing to boycott over tire rules....)

Lets face it, big corporations& monopolies are messing up lots of good stuff

I'm sure its difficult to run a race track and you need to generate income to pay the bills. I would like to see more open tire events. Would they be good or would they suck? It might be an interesting experiment to try again.  Do any drivers still have tire deals like they used to before mandatory track tire rules. Right rear tire rules might be ok, but to mandate a four corner rule does seem like a monopoly.

I'll got one step further: Total "run whatcha brung" series engines included, first races lined up by random picks, all the rest lined up by total inversion based on points

But I don't have the $$$, time, or knowhow to do that, so I guess I'm just blowing smoke up "you know where"....

Hoosier is giving so much into points funds, NO ONE, is going to change the tire there putting out there. I will say thiis, with many racers only running 1 night a week at many parts of the country today track owners should be making there deals with suppliers directly. 

The old adage that competition is good doesn't ring true today in too many industries. I'm curious, do all the travelling teams buy their tires from the tire supplier at the track, or can they buy factory direct? Just wondering if there is any "sorting" going on or preferential treatment.

The hoosier tire today is not the same.  Maybe 2-3 years ago they went to a much thicker sidewall.  I do not know if it was WOO or combination of tracks that asked for a change.  I think they thought it would make closer racing somehow.  I am not sure of that.  It is very true that you have no idea on what the tire will measure and you can not take them back after mounting them.  We do race every week, so we just have to deal with it like everything else.

Yeah I've heard, seen, talked to guys who say same exact tire measures out different everytime and that while that has happened in the past couple years it was not very common.  This year they've said they could have 6 of the same tire in the trailer and they'll all measure out different and some are WAY off. 

didn't Continental buy Hoosier? are the tires being built in one of these third world countries?

http://www.continental-tires.com/specialty/company/businessunit/headquarters-plants

Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May

This brings up a very interesting question just where are Hoosier tires made at now if you look on continental website it sure looks like they are now made in Germany not Indiana like before. So all I can think about is Continental buys Hoosier tires shuts down factory in the US and moves operations to foreign country. this just makes me dislike them even more then I did before because they put Americans out of work and it's obvious the quality control is most definitely not as good as before. I want AMERICAN RACER back in the mix for one we know there made by American workers here in the US. And for the post earlier about my credentials of working on sprint cars I've been working on sprints for 34 years and a lot of that time was spent traveling with the Allstar circuit of champions and Woo as a crew member or crew chief and have had numerous victory lane appearances. So yes I do know a little bit about these cars and what is a good tire and a bad tire. 

What's stopping American Racer from hitting up Knoxville, Central Pa., and other top 410 tracks with a deal they can't refuse?? If the Hoosier is that inconsistant why aren't the drivers pushing for/demanding a change?? Push WoO/WRG/All Stars into the corner and make them open up the tire rules to let everyone that wants an alternate brand or choice to do so. Fact is WoO/WRG/All Stars need those tracks more than those tracks need WoO/WRG/All Stars...... 

I am not sure that the drivers think there are any other better options out there at this point....AR makes a great Modified tire, I'm not sure how much time and money they have put into a program that would work for 410's right now.  Drivers are probably afraid if they got a wholesale switch to AR's at their local tracks we might run into the fiasco that was the end of the Goodyear era in WoO.   And face it, the big local teams want to be able to run competitively against the "big boys."

Knoxville and Central PA would survive without the WoO (or ASCOC for PA).  However, there is no denying that their big money, high profit shows all include a major sanctioning body (except for PA Speedweek).  Having seen what happens with NE modifieds when guys who run AR's all year try to switch to Hoosiers and are way out to lunch, you would lose a lot of what makes the sanctioned races in those areas special, which is the locals beating the invaders aspect.  Plus, for those big shows, you would lose a number of the mid-level locals, who don't want to have to buy a different set of tires to run in the sanctioned race.

D1RT,  it's all about the contingency funds Hoosier is giving the touring series. American Racer some years ago had a foot in the door but Hoosier pushed them right back out. Also don't forget American Racer does not have the facilities to produce the ammount of tires needed. It would probably take them some time to get testing done then ramp up to produce tires.