I bidyou welcome gentle readers. After making myself perhaps a bit more infamousthan famous during my radio appearance last evening with Robyn Vandenberg aka"That Sports Chick" on her Bump and Run show, in which "MamaPKL" couldn't resist giving a seat in the corner to "King"Richard Petty for his more than slightly Chauvinistic condemnation of theracing abilities of Danica Patrick, I looked around for anything but that asthe topic of Friday's column... and found one in the column just released. * Podcast of "Bump andRun" can be found here. This oneis for all the readers that ask for more and more articles historical in nature,and it came to mind upon refreshing my last article, a tribute to Neil Bonnett. Inthat article, you may recall that reference was made to both Neil and RodneyOrr having driven cars equipped with Hoosier tires on the days theyrespectively bade this world adieu. Thoughno connection was ever made between those tires and the deaths at Daytona in1994, the fact remains, they came during what might be called round 2 of thetire war between Hoosier and Goodyear for supremacy in NASCAR's elite series. Forthose of you whoare not familiar witha tire war, it refers to thepresence of two or more tire manufacturers supplying tires to the combatants ofthe same racing series. At firstblush, one would think that in our capitalistic society, this would be a goodthing. Indeed, if we were talking only of pricing it probably would be, but inracing, there is far more at stake than the mere cost of a set of tires. Forthose of you who have never seen the outcome of this particular type ofcompetition, or those who have mercifully forgotten, let me take you back for amoment and describe just what a tire war might accomplish.
In thevery beginning of NASCAR stock car racing, the only “racing” tire available wasfrom Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., which had been the supplier of tires forIndianapolis Motor Speedway for years.However, in the beginning, Firestone didn’t show much interest in thenew racing series called NASCAR, so the early drivers were left to run prettymuch on street tires, which were ill-suited to the high speeds. It didn’t takevery long for someone to discover that these tires were notsufficient orsafe onthe large, weighty stock cars. Johnny Mantz, who had cut his teethat the Brickyard, knew instinctively what it would take, and with nothing elseavailable, went out and purchased several sets of truck tires for his 1950Plymouth. Mantz was the slowest qualifier in the field of 75 at Darlington in1950, but due to the hardness of his tires, he finished nine laps ahead of thefield, as competitors suffered blowout after blowout in the first 500-mile raceever run by stock cars. (Have been questioned a time or two concerning thosetires and how, when it was "Stock parts only" that Mantz got awaywith using truck tires. It helped immensely that the car he was driving thatday was partially owned by Bill France Sr.)
By 1955,Firestone came out with a “Super Sports” tire that was not unlike a truck tire,and Herb Thomas won the Southern 500 that year without a tire change. Goodyearentered the picture briefly in 1957 when Jack Smith won a 100-mile race atConcord, N.C., but it was two years later before Goodyear scored a win on aSuperspeedway, with Jim Reed capturing the Southern 500.
Duringthe 1960’s the two manufacturers fought it out head to head, with Goodyearcoming out the eventual winner. During those same years though, there werenumerous serious accidents and many deaths caused by tire failures, as harderand safer tires gave way to softer and faster tires... all in the name ofspeed. In the late 60’s, Firestone finally withdrew their tires from stock carcompetition, and the long marriagebetween NASCAR and Goodyear began.Goodyear claims that their racing program hasnever turned a profit;itserves only asa marketing and research tool to make finer tiresfor your car and mine.
In the1970’s there was one other minor incursion into the sport by McCreary Tires.Other than securing pole positions for J.D. McDuffie in 1978 and Harry Gant in1979, they were unspectacular, and withdrew quickly when NASCAR issued a newruling, that tire manufacturers wishing to supply tires for their sanctionedraces must supply a quantity large enough for the entire field.
Thingsran very smoothly for both NASCAR and Goodyear after that, with Goodyearsupplying tires that were harder and safer. The tire wars of the early years,along with the injuries and deaths attributed to them were all but forgotten.However, like all good things, that came to an abrupt end in 1988, when BobNewton, the owner of a small tire-manufacturing firm known as “Hoosier Tire andRubber” decided to bring his tires into Winston Cup racing. Newton was not newto racing, since he already supplied tires for Late Models, Sprint cars andSportsman events, including NASCAR’s own Sportsman division. It seemed like thequintessential David and Goliath battle, and few, if any, folks were impressedby the addition of the upstart company.
“Racingis our game,” said Newton, “and we play seven days a week. We’ve been workinghard and testing different avenues than the big guy (Goodyear). Goodyear makesa good tire. They sit on the pole weekly, but ours is a come-on tire. It’s nota quick qualifier.” In the opening race of 1988 in Daytona, ten teams startedon Hoosier tires. They didn’t win (Bobby Allison did, on Goodyears), but theywere competitive. At the second race, in Richmond, Neil Bonnett, driving the Rahmoc Pontiac, recovered from being two laps down to postthe first race win for Hoosier tires. Two weeks later, Bonnett scored a secondwin for Hoosier at the mile track in Rockingham. That was the wake-up call forGoodyear. They had been bested at their own game. Goodyear’s Public RelationsManager, Bill King, said, “Hoosier is a good racing tire. Bob Newton did hishomework and he knows what he is doing. “
Kingcontinued, “When there is no competition, you don’t design a tire at the edgeof the performance envelope. You design a tire to be safe and reliable. Thereis no question about a tire war on the Winston Cup circuit, but we haven’t evengot our guns out yet. We’re still loading, but you’ll know when we startshooting.” That, gentle readers, was the beginning of what would get uglybefore it got better. At Atlanta, all but two cars opted for Goodyears, mainlybecause Hoosier had never had a tire on that particular track. At Darlington, thefollowing week, Lake Speed scored his one and only victory on the Winston Cupcircuit, on Hoosier tires. In the following weeks, Goodyear designed a tirethat would run as fast as the Hoosiers, and presented it at The Winston inCharlotte. After a hard crash by Ricky Rudd, resulting in a knee injury,Goodyear withdrew their new tires from the 600 the following week. During that600, Rick Wilson, Harry Gant and Neil Bonnett were all transported to hospitalswith varying injuries and Buddy Baker suffered a blood clot on his brain in amulti-car wreck, although that wasn’t caught for some three months. When it wasdiscovered, Baker’s driving career ended. All injuries were the result of tirefailures.
Therewere calls from many drivers and crew chiefs for NASCAR to step in and end thetire war, but NASCAR said that couldn’t be done, since it would violate thenation’s anti-trust laws. Throughout 1988, the war continued, with driversswitching from one tire to the other and back again, trying to second-guesswhich one might get them to the end of a race without serious injury. Bothtires were faster than ever before, but neither was what might be described as“safe” or “reliable.” By the end of the year, “David” had won nine races of thetwenty-nine on the schedule. “Goliath” had not been slain, but he mostcertainly knew he’d been in a battle.
BobNewton said, “They thought from the very start that we wouldn’t last but a fewraces, but we were prepared for it. I spent my whole life in the business and Iknow what it’s all about. When I started, I was hopeful we could get 20 percentof the market. As it turned out we won nine races.”
Theprice paid for that disastrous season was a steep one. By the end of that year,J.D McDuffie, Bobby Wawak, Bill Elliott, Ricky Rudd,Harry Gant, Rick Wilson, Neil Bonnett, Bobby Allison, Jocko Maggiacomo,Kyle Petty and Rusty Wallace had all logged time in the hospital. (Afterblowing a tire on the very first lap at Pocono, Bobby Allison would come neardeath, suffering massive head injuries, and never race again) Sports writersand fans alike had taken to referring to these drivers as “the walkingwounded.” Crutches and casts seemed as much at home in the garage area as didtires and wrenches.
Thefollowing year, 1989, saw Goodyear attempt to come out swinging at the bell,with the introduction at Daytona of their new radial-ply tire. They had testedthe tire for two months and thousands of miles, and deemed it safe and readyfor the track. However, the first practice at Daytona told quite a differentstory, when both Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt hit the wall due to tirefailures. Elliott sustained a double fracture of his wrist in his incident. Atthat point, Goodyear did the only honorable thing. They packed up their tiresand withdrew from the Daytona 500.
Undaunted,the manufacturing giant went back to the drawing board and worked hard on theirnew radial. Goodyear’s new and improved radial tire debuted at North Wilkesborothat spring. While Hoosier tires were much faster in qualifying, those newGoodyears maintained their speed throughout the race, while the Hoosierbias-plies faded asbias-plies had always done. Dale Earnhardt won therace on Goodyear radial tires. Ironically, he would say in later years that henever really became accustomed to the radials, and preferred the bias-plies,but the radials were in the sport... and on our highways... to stay.
In TheWinston 500 at Talladega, Hoosier brought a new tire, touted by Bob Newton asthe best tire he had ever produced, but only two drivers opted to use it thatday. Had it not been for a late race caution, Morgan Shepherd, with Hoosiers onhis Rahmoc Pontiac, might have won the race. Thecaution erased the lead Shepherd had built up and three cars shod withGoodyears left him at the starting line to finish 1-2-3. They were DaveyAllison, Terry Labonte and Mark Martin.
The nextday, Newton announced that he was withdrawing Hoosier tires from Winston Cupcompetition. He did this in an extremely warm and friendly letter to NASCAR,which is too long to include in this space. However, he did acknowledge quietlythat he might return someday. “I know how to play the game now. We’ve done allwe can do as a little company. I’ve climbed Mount Everest and stuck the flagpole in the ground, but I didn’t want to live there,”
Fortheir part, the drivers and owners were more than happy to see the war end, andto place their confidence in Goodyear to supply tires that would not fail athigh speeds.
Afterseeing what happens when safety is sacrificed for speed, it might not suit theanti-trust laws to have only one tire supplier in the sport, but you can betthe farm that it suits the drivers and the car owners. About a decade or soago, it appeared that the mighty Michelin Tire Co. might make a run at NASCAR,and memories were immediately evoked of the last time we'd fought a war withtires as the objective. Mark Martin’s cryptic comment, when asked what hethought about the possibility of another tire war was, “They’re going to killsomebody.” Unfortunately,he may have hit the nail right on its proverbialhead. Each time there has been serious competition between tire manufacturersin the Cup Series, the resultswere injuries and deaths. This old fanhopes and prays that we never have to see againthe carnage producedbya tire war. Just as Smokey used to say, "They're all mydrivers" and I want them all alive and whole. Be wellgentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
Newtondid indeed make one more incursion into Winston Cup, in 1994. Hoosier tires wonthree races that year along with the all-star race, The Winston. In each case,the driver was Geoff Bodine. At the end of the year, Newton once more withdrewhis tires, citing the excessive cost to his small company of supplying enoughtires to service the entire field at each race. You could almost hear thecollective sigh of relief from the garage area. Of course, there were those tworacers that never came home from Daytona... 
Probably the happiest person to seeHoosier leave Cup racing was Leo Mehl, the directorof worldwide racing for Goodyear. "We're relieved it's over because speedshad escalated to the point that everyone was concerned. With us, safety wasalways the No. 1 goal. We did the right thing and always built new tires forevery track.''
