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Hoosier's New Radial Drag Slick
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Super Stock and Comp Eliminator racers to benefit from latest technology out of Indiana
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By Brian Wood Photos by James Drew, Hoosier Racing Tire Corp. |
With a series of successful test sessions now in the books, Hoosier Racing Tire is preparing to release yet another in its highly-regarded line-up of specialty drag racing tires. This time around it's a new radial slick aimed specifically at the Super Stock and Comp Eliminator market.
The first of the new radials is available in a size of 32X13.5R-15, which has a circumference of 101-inches and 13.5-inches of tread. A second size, this one a 33X14.5R-15, will feature a circumference of 104-inches and 14.5-inches of tread. Apparently this is just the beginning of the line, as even larger sizes may eventually be available from Hoosier. In an exclusive interview, company representative Faron Lubbers explained the thought process that went into the new tire's development. “We developed this tire with the Super Stock and Comp Eliminator classes in mind because the radial slick is best suited to classes where elapsed times are crucial. Such a tire is not really necessary in classes like Super Gas or Super Comp, for example, where the focus is on round-to-round consistency.
“The recent trend has been to go with a radial configuration for this type of racing because it's a faster tire due to the fact that it offers less rolling resistance than a bias-ply design,” Lubbers added. “Simply stated, it takes less horsepower to turn a radial tire whereas a bias-ply sucks horsepower because it takes more energy to turn it. It's easy to compare it to the average street car when radials are put on in place of bias-ply tires. The gas mileage goes up and the car rolls much more freely. It's the same on a race car.”
H “We've seen increases from five-hundredths to over a tenth of a second when the bias-ply slicks are replaced by the radials,” reported Lubbers. “Each class is different, of course, and different combinations respond in different way, but we have seen a definite five-hundredths up to a tenth of a second.”
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oosier has been manufacturing radial tires for stock cars and road racing since 1991, and even though they had never made anything this large, the new slick was considered to be a logical step up. According to Lubbers, the new tire has been in the planning stages since the fall of 2003, and it was first tested in January of this year. Veteran competitors Terry Emmons and Tommy Phillips made the first runs on the new rubber in San Antonio , Texas , and the results were extremely encouraging. 
At the time of this interview the new radials were not yet in production, but plans call for them to start rolling off the line very soon. “We have a few more tests to run, and we're taking our time to do things right. It takes all different equipment to build a radial tire versus a bias-ply, and since we have never built a radial that size before, we had to invest a fair bit in new molds and the specialized equipment necessary to manufacture the tire. We consider it to be money well spent, of course, and since we do everything in-house in our factory in northern Indiana , it greatly enhances our overall ability to keep pace with market demands. The bottom line here is that we want to provide the ultimate tire for the racers, and we want it to uphold the Hoosier tradition in every respect.” 