Tire Switch Throws Jeremy Colangelo Curve Ball at New Smyrna

DeLand, Florida, Driver Still Obtains Another Top-Five Finish

Rules changes in the middle of a racing season can cause drivers and teams frustration.  Getting used to one set of rules and then having to adjust to another set costs time, energy, money and sometimes positions on the track.

The Goodyear Challenge Series in Florida didn’t make a rule change for this past weekend’s race at New Smyrna Speedway (FL) involving the car itself, rather a change of tire brands from Goodyear to Hoosier in the newly-named “FASCAR Challenge Series” as they ended their relationship with the former title sponsor tire company.  Still though, with the change, Jeremy Colangelo was able to drive his car to a third-place finish.

It was another top five for Colangelo (51 Sports)

Early on, the day was a bit of a struggle for Colangelo, getting used to the new tires and how they act and react on the track.

“It was a bit of an interesting weekend,” said Colangelo.  “Going into the race we thought we were going to have a better car than we actually qualified.  We qualified and started 10th.  The car handled pretty good on the new Hoosier tires.  That was the first time we were on those tires since the series changed away from Goodyears. 

It was a good learning experience.  I think we have them pretty well figured out, but in qualifying we weren’t sure whether to scuff or not scuff them.  We went out straight up, which might have been a mistake.”

In the race, Colangelo avoided early wrecks to race up to third, but in a series he is attempting to become the 2008 champion in, the change in tire manufacturers was forefront on his mind.

“I liked the Goodyear tires,” explained Colangelo.  “I think FASCAR and Goodyear had a relationship that lasted 18 years, so somebody screwed up pretty big to end that relationship in the middle of the year and switch us to a tire that not many people have run before.  I know we have never run them.  It was a pretty hard thing to debut that tire for us on the fastest track we run on and make us try to get used to them.”

Tires aside, Colangelo is already looking forward to his next race, where he hopes to have a better understanding of how the tires react on the track as well as finding a bit more power under the hood.

“We decided after not being able to keep up with the top two drivers that the motor needed to come out, so we set it up to have our motor refreshed.  Hopefully next time we will have a little bit more power.”