Three NASCAR Cup Series drivers tested the new tire setup for Michigan International Speedway, but that doesn't mean they know how it will perform this weekend. The new setup remains a wild card.
This race weekend will feature the same right-side tires from last season's trip to Michigan. The left-side tires, however, will be new to the track. Goodyear will bring a compound used most recently at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The tire is new to Michigan, but it is familiar to the teams. So why is it a wild card?
The reason is that the weather threw a wrench into the April test session. Rain shortened a two-day test to only one, while the cooler temperatures did not reflect what teams will face this weekend.
"It was like 8 (a.m.) to 8 (p.m.) or something," RFK Racing's Chris Buescher, the winner of the 2023 Michigan race, said. "It was a long test day for everybody."
The three OEMs and their representatives still left Michigan with some information about the new tire setup. They just didn't have as much as they would have preferred due to the inclement weather and the reduced time on track.
"(The tire) gripped it up," Buescher added. "It actually made it a little bit easier for the first handful of laps, but it was also like 40 degrees at that test.
"So as far as fall off goes and those things, I don't think we have a good handle on what exactly that's going to look like."
What these drivers did learn is that Michigan -- which refuses to age like every other track in NASCAR -- is still going to feature high speeds. This is a track known for cars going more than 200 mph. That won't change with the new tire setup.
"It was definitely fast," Trackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez said about the new tire setup. "Definitely fast. So, the wear out, hard to tell. I think it was maybe a little bit too cold to really understand the wear out and the fall off.
"But I guess we'll find out. So far, this tire has delivered a very good performance and fall off in some other tracks. So, hopefully, it applies the same for Michigan."
Suarez had even less time on track than Buescher and Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs, the other two drivers who took part in the Goodyear tire test. He had a tire issue that cut his afternoon short and gave his team fewer opportunities to gather information.
"A couple hours into our day, we blew a tire and we crashed," Suarez said. "So, unfortunately, it was a very short day for us. I'm probably not the best person to ask if the tire was better or not."
Suarez will have another opportunity to gain information about this test this weekend, starting with practice on Saturday morning (9:30 ET on Prime Video). He and his team will just have fewer opportunities to make changes to the car due to NASCAR's rules.