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Motorsports: New NASCAR tire tech to debut in Atlanta this weekend

Filed under: Motorsports, Safety, Technology, Racing

Goodyear Eagle Multi-Zone Racing Tire for NASCAR Aside from the antics of the Busch brothers and Tony Stewart’s uncensored comments, some of the biggest controversies in NASCAR are directed at the tires used on the cars. Goodyear can’t do anything about Kurt, Kyle or Tony, but it is looking improve the quality of its rubber by introducing a new type of racing tires for this weekend’s event at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Developed from the same technology behind Goodyear’s Assurance TripleTred passenger tire, the new Multi-Zone Tread Technology debuting in NASCAR uses multiple rubber compounds in the hopes of optimizing performance, safety and durability. Goodyear says that Atlanta is a good test track for the new technology since it has an abrasive surface, long race length and high vehicle speeds. The new compound will only be used on the right-side tires only (click on the image for a larger view of what’s a work here).

Scroll down for the official press release about the new tires, and check out how they perform this weekend at the Nationwide Great Clips-Grit Chips 300 tomorrow and the Sprint Cup Advocare 500 on Sunday.

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New NASCAR tire tech to debut in Atlanta this weekend originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Aug 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Red Bull drifts through downtown Atlanta

Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Marketing/Advertising, Videos, Hyundai, Pontiac, Racing

Red Bull Peachtree Drift Battle

Red Bull Peachtree Drift Battle in Atlanta – Click above to watch the video after the break

According to the company’s slogan, Red Bull is supposed to give you wings. Apparently, all it gives Rhys Millen and Ryan Tuerck is smoke… tire smoke that is, and lots of it.

The two drivers – Millen in his Hyundai Genesis Coupe and Tuerck in his Pontiac Solstice Coupe (may it rest in peace) – were flown out to the Georgian capitol to take part in the Red Bull Peachtree Drift Battle, which, as you may have guessed, takes place down Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta.

There’s isn’t really a winner to this staged race, except for perhaps all the innocent bystanders who got a much-needed injection of excitement into their routine daily commutes. See all the tire-smoking action in the video after the break.

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Red Bull drifts through downtown Atlanta originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 10 May 2011 20:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iRacing star gets chance to try real thing at Road Atlanta

Filed under: Motorsports, Etc., Toys/Games, Racing

Most people would love a chance to show their stuff behind the wheel of racecar. Problem is, most people probably wouldn’t be any good at actually driving one. We can all try to hone our skills through the use of racing simulators, but just how much can they actually teach you without the visceral feedback and life-or-death consequences that you can only get from real life? Apparently, they can teach us plenty. One person in particular, who goes by the name Greger Huttu, got to put his virtual racing prowess to the test.

Greger Huttu hails from Vaasa, Finland, where he can be found spending putting a lot of time into the iRacing simulator. Huttu is not just good at the game, he utterly dominates it. For the last six years, he’s turned 2,581 laps and led for 2,339 of them. He’s won every race from the pole position, including the iRacing World Championship that netted him a cool $10,000. Still… he’s never actually driven a real racecar, and the folks at Top Gear were curious to see if he actually could.

Top Gear flew Huttu out to Road Atlanta – one of America’s toughest tracks – and stuck him in a Star Mazda racer. Both the track and the car are familiar to Huttu because he’s experienced both in the iRacing simulator. How did he do? Quite frankly, he did amazingly well. Entering corners at 100 miles per hour, which is just 10 mph shy of where experience drivers come in, Huttu was able to rip off clean lap after clean lap and eventually came within three seconds of what the experts consider a solid time at Road Atlanta.

The difference between a professional driver and a professional simulator driver soon became apparent, however, as Greger Huttu’s body began to be affected by the G forces. The pros work hard to stay fit for a reason, and the toll on Huttu resulted in a helmet full of vomit. Though he wanted to continue, Huttu had to eventually throw in the towel because his body could take no more.

Still, his accomplishments are pretty remarkable and suggest that a good simulator can indeed prepare the armchair racer for a car and a circuit. Head over to Top Gear to get the full scoop on Huttu and his real-life racing adventure.

[Source: Top Gear]

iRacing star gets chance to try real thing at Road Atlanta originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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