Federal Tire & Parts Shortage in general

[Legends57x]

Thought I'd post something for discussion for a change...What are you thoughts regarding Federal tire shortage just announced by INEX?  Sounds like they may not have tires for any of us until sometime in May.  I also heard from a reliable source that INEX has very few shocks and fenders in stock at this time as well.  Geez...INEX had all winter to make sure they had parts in stock and yet here we are today. IMO - It is time to start seriously considering a Hoosier slick tire and move away from the Federal tire + tire cutting scheme.  This would save us all such frustrations as well as saving us money in regards to extra cost of cutting tires and potential extended tire wear.  Again, just my humble opinion.... Have a great day!

[VMS Motorsports]

I've got new shocks and fenders here if you need anything Mark.
I agree with a slick for asphalt. Us dirt guys got our real rave tire, time for you asphalt guys to

[Earnst85]

I doubt they will ever go to a true "race" tire for asphalt. It will increase speeds to an uncomfortable level for INEX. Same reason as they hated to let the dirt guys run Eldora. The track was "too big & too fast" for the chassis' designs. But yet they run road course at speeds up to 115+ mph.

[justfreaky]

I know SCCA allows the use of Hoosier slicks in the autocross series.

Steve

[ZForceRacing01]

INEX is horribly ran organization, but I sure hope someone got their butt chapped on this issue. I didn't race last Friday because of this tire issue.

But to go further, this tire deal is extremely selfish of INEX and USLC. They are the only ones who can sell the tires, I really don't have much issue with that, though it does hurt driver purses. Ever wonder why we don't get paid jack compared to other divisions? Its cause we don't buy fuel or tires from the race track, they don't make anything from us so they don't pay us much.

Ok, so why is INEX Greedy? Because they know full well we are paying any where from $80-175 to additional per set to get tires cut.
Then, If you want to be fast they need to be cut aggressively. Your dealer isn't going to complain, 95% of them are the ones cutting the tires and making the extra $80-180 a set.

This whole grassroots racing to a bunch of Jive.

I see asphalt Ministocks running a grooved tire, I sure the could have a race tire with a hard enough compound that would prevent us from going too fast.

I'm not to sure they care to much about how fast we are going anyway, they are startng to run all kinds of bog tracks now, no longer limited to a 3/8 mile.

[late8]

I was at 600 on may 19 20016 they had tons of fenders  had to be 50 feet long of body parts in bins the place is impressive

[Racin Greyson]

I conquer! I switched to legends from street stocks and sportsman/limited late model. Don't know if I would have had I known how expensive the tires would be costing. $90 for a tire is fine but if I want to be  competitive, which who the heck doesn't, I have to have them cut which adds ALOT more $$$!! I would have never imagined I would be going threw a set of tires every month.   If they wanted to keep the cost down with these cars  they should not have allowed cut tires. I love being able to go faster but allowing us to cut our tires was most definitely a rotten  decision. Well at least for the drivers who were hoping that this just might be the kind of series were the thickness of the wallet doesn't matter.

[Legends16]

I don't know, I guess I don't view the tires as big an expense problem as some of you guys. Its not a great program expense wise but it could be worse. I came from Karts where 10 years ago a kart tire would cost you $70-$80 each. The would last you about 5 races until they were junk and you had to do it all over again. There was a big difference in speed between the new tires and the old. As we used to say, New tires will always win over old.

I have some friends that race late models and tell me how much they spend on tires alone. I'm still trying to gather my jaw up off the floor. We are paying pennies to the dollar on what some of those guys are spending.

Im a budget asphalt racer so getting the most out of my tires is a big deal. Running ten races a year I can usually get a season out of a set if I don't get them agressivly cut and I don't tear them up. Tires up here are about $100, tire cutting is about $30 a tire and then the use of a hotbox is $10.

Its my understanding that we pavement guys need these tires cut or they will chunk along the edges. In our case worn tires get quicker (unless they are hard) due to a greater contact patch. I just don't see how you can police a no tire cutting rule.

The biggest issue with these cars is with the expense of the engine program. Please don't get me started on that can of worms.

[Jason Treschl Racing]

The pro class at atlanta motor speedway this year is running the full thursday thunder series (10 races) on uncut tires. These tires are being held by the speedway between races, and assigned to the racers each night at a cost of $75 per race. At the end of the series if you ran at least 8 races, the tires (what's left of them), and the lightweight aero wheels that they are mounted on are yours to keep.

Interesting idea.

[Legends16]

The pro class at atlanta motor speedway this year is running the full thursday thunder series (10 races) on uncut tires. These tires are being held by the speedway between races, and assigned to the racers each night at a cost of $75 per race. At the end of the series if you ran at least 8 races, the tires (what's left of them), and the lightweight aero wheels that they are mounted on are yours to keep.

Interesting idea.

Hmm Interesting.

[ZForceRacing01]

This should be implemented for all divisions. Guys should not be running one or two races and tossing them, these are supposed to be affordable cars. At Asphalt nationals they made us run both heats and the main on the same tires.

[Jason Treschl Racing]

So far the pro class has been 0.4 seconds off the pace of the SP due to the tires. The drivers all feel like it made the cars more even and they are sliding around a lot.

[Crazyakcarguy]

My thoughts as a newbie to asphalt is that a standard slick(even if it was a harder compound to make the speeds slower) would be the way to go. Or a impound system. I love INEX because there are a lot of people always trying to help you but there are a ton of small setup pieces that have to be right to be fast. The tires and getting them cut is another piece that a newbie like me has to figure out before he's running upfront with the guys who aggressively cut there tires. If the tires where are the same it would be one less piece of the puzzle. I do like the impound idea though. My two cents from a newbie.

[ZForceRacing01]

I have been told we would be too fast on a slick, even with the harder compounds. Besides, as long as dealers are getting anywhere from 100-175 a set to cut them, they are not going away. Plus, INEX is under contract with Federal at the moment, they still have a few more years on their contract.

[frantzracing0]

Back on the old BFG tires we were running ten races on a cut set with no loss of time. On the new federal tires, 2 races. At 3 races you're losing ground. Ive tried pushing them past 5 races and we go from a top ten car to barely a top 20 car