By listening to the racers and their needs, heads up racers in classes like Real Street and Pure Street in the NMRA were looking for improved performance over the current Mickey Thompson 26.0X10.0-15 ET Drag tire (part# 3053), which was originally designed for 12-14 second bracket cars. These classes and many others are now running in the mid 9’s on them. Jason Moulton of Mickey Thompson Tires said “The new 26X10.0-15S (part # 3053S) is now basically a little brother to the 28X10.5-15S we brought out a couple of years ago for the same reason. It uses a M5 compound and a stiffer sidewall for the higher horsepower heads up cars. This design also lends itself real well to stick shift applications and heavy cars (above 3000 lbs)”.
I had received a call from Jason Moulton of Mickey Thompson Tires. He wanted me to test a 26.0X10.0-15S ET Drag tire that they were considering about introducing in 2007. As a Real Street racer I felt that a stiff sidewall tire would be a benefit and I was extremely excited that I may be able to purchase a stiff sidewall tire in the future. Jason also told me that Billy Glidden and
Jeremy Martorella had tested these tires in the past and if I had any questions that I could also talk to Billy. After speaking to Jason and Billy knew my focus was to get some back to back runs to compare the two different tires. I have run tubes in my tires all year long. So I would be comparing the stiff sidewall (#3053S) tire with out tubes and the regular tire (#3053) with tubes.
On Sunday October 15th, I showed up to Cordova Dragway in Cordova Illinois. It was a brisk October morning. Temperature was about 45 degrees. Due to guardrail damage at the top end of the race track, 1/8th mile racing was all that was allowed. My first pass with the #3053 tire with tubes was a good pass. I ran 1.358 60ft, 4.016 330ft, and 6.266@ 109.29 mph in the 1/8th. I was happy with the ET’s so now was the time to try the #3053S tires. I changed absolutely nothing except for the tires. First pass I ran 1.351 60ft, 4.058 330ft, 6.308 @ 109.53 mph in the 1/8th. Because the car front end did not want to come back to earth like it normally does. I had to pedal it just after the 1-2 shift point and my datalogger showed I lifted for .5 seconds. Finding this info I was eager to get a full run in. I then bolted 10lbs to the nose of the car. The day was getting late and I had only time to get one more run in. Even with the 10lbs on the nose when I let the clutch go. She made me feel I was in a rocket ship headed for the moon instead of going straight down the track. The shift light came on and I hit second gear. She continued to climb and half way through second gear I knew I had to abort the run. She came down pretty hard but thankfully no major damage. Even though I did not get to make a clean run, I felt that the 3053S performed exceptionally well.
I gave my information to Jason and Billy and told them how I felt about the 3053Stire. They were both pleased with my findings. Billy suggested that I try running the 3053 tire without the tubes, and make a comparison that way. So off to the race track I went.
On Sunday October 29th, I returned to Cordova Dragway. Temperature was a little warmer at around 55 degrees. My first run with the 3053 tire without tubes and 10lbs still on the nose I ran 1.442 60ft, 4.097 330ft, 6.347 @ 109.27 mph in the 1/8th, 8.297 1000ft, and 9.954 @ 135.32 mph in the ¼. The car spun the tires throughout all of first gear until I shifted into second gear. I felt that the 10lbs on the nose was a part of why I was spinning the tires, so I removed the 10lbs. Next pass I ran 1.416 60ft, 4.053 330ft, 6.295 @ 109.63 mph in the 1/8, 8.240 1000ft, and 9.897@ 135.09 mph in the ¼. Even though she was still spinning the tires I wanted to put on the 3053S tires and see what she would do.
My first run with the 3053S tire was a repeat of last run from the previous test session. She went straight for the sky and I knew I had to abort even before I hit second gear. Knowing that I had to make a change, I then proceeded to bolt 23lbs to the nose. Hopefully this will calm her down. I had to rush to the staging lanes to get one final pass in. I ran 1.351 60ft, 3.961 330ft, 6.211@ 109.19 mph in the 1/8th, 8.164 1000ft, and 9.824@ 134.85 mph in the ¼. Even with these great ET’s I still had to slow shift first to second gear because she was climbing in the air so high. My dataloger showed that my shift time was twice as long as normal. With all this data I was very happy with the results.
I emailed Jason my data of the weekend. He was very happy with the information that I had provided. He said that he would discuss the information in meetings and would like to possibly introduce the tire by 2007. Seven weeks later the 3053S ET Drag tire was introduced at the 2006 PRI Show in Orlando Florida.
