NASCAR decided to allow the use of special tires for rainy weather at some oval tracks before the 2023 season started. However, they hadn’t tried these tires in a real race in the Cup Series yet.
Before this race, the only times these tires were used were in a Truck race and the All-Star Race last year, both at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
It rained on Sunday at Richmond, but the rain stopped enough for NASCAR to clear most of the water from the track. The track was still a bit wet, but not too wet.
The race was supposed to start, and about 20 minutes late, NASCAR began it. The teams used the wet weather tires for the first 30 laps of the race, and everything went well.
The wet weather tires have more grip because they have tread. Some people thought the racing with these tires was more fun to watch than the rest of the race when they used regular tires.
After 30 laps, the track was almost dry, so NASCAR had the teams switch to regular tires during pit stops. Some fans didn’t like this decision because they thought it made the race less exciting. But NASCAR thought it was the best thing to do since the pit road was still wet.
Denny Hamlin, who won the race, said it was a big deal to use these tires, and he was nervous about it at first. But he thought everything went well in the end.
Hamlin’s crew chief, Chris Gabehart, agreed and said NASCAR did exactly what they said they would do.
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, said the CEO of NASCAR, Jim France, pushed for these special tires. Sawyer said France’s idea probably helped the race start on time instead of waiting for the track to dry.
Sawyer said NASCAR will keep looking for ways to make these tires work even better. He said it was important to see how they worked in a real race to learn more about them.