By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
A new tire combination provided issues for numerous drivers during the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Among those that had tire issues, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson and Ryan Newman all had issues with tires while running in the top-five.
Truex was running second when his tire blew on lap 82. At the time, there were no concerns about tire wear on the right side from the previous pit stop. Truex was unsure as to what caused the tire to blow.
“We just blew a right-front tire out of nowhere. Not sure what happened there – if we run something over or what. I think the first set of tires that came off the car looked great,” Truex stated outside the infield care center.
“We were just making our way towards the front. I think we were second when we blew a tire there. Would’ve been nice to have at least finished that first stage before it happened, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
After starting at the rear of the field for failing pre-race inspection three times, Larson had worked his way into the top-five. Unfortunately, his tire blew on lap 128 and sent him hard into the turn one wall. Luckily, Larson was okay following the hit. Larson felt that he could have contended for the win.
“I’m okay thankfully. Thanks to NASCAR and their safety because that was a huge hit. Just hate that I blew a right-front (tire) there. I was pretty tight but didn’t really expect to blow a right-front,” Larson stated.
“Restarted up front there and was just really tight for a few laps and then actually got going pretty good. Just needed to get by Joey (Logano) there and I felt like I was one of the faster cars out there. So, felt like we could have had a shot at the end of the race, but it was cut short.”
While green flag pit stops underway in the closing laps of the race, Newman had not made a pit stop and was running before his tire blew on lap 305 on the frontstretch.
Replay: Ryan Newman loses a tire and gets hard into the wall at Texas.#NASCARonFS1 pic.twitter.com/Rojxanh9fe
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 8, 2018
Other tire related issues throughout the day were caused by tire rubs.