All three of these drivers have a win this season, going into race number 15. But, neither of these drivers have had the consistency it takes to dominate. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. supplies all of the tires used in Cup racing. This year they changed the basic construction of their racing tires by making the sidewall of the right side tires softer. Softer sidewalls force teams to use less camber on the right front in their set-ups.
Less camber limits the racecar's ability to turn in the corners.
Goodyear was concerned by the amount of blown right side tires caused by teams adding too much camber with low air pressure. So, by softening the sidewalls, they have forced the teams to completely change their set-ups from previous years. The old set-ups won't work with the new tire. For the most part, set-up notes collected by crew chiefs from the different tracks in recent years are useless. I've noticed just as many blown right side tires this season, if not more, as I have in previous seasons.