Mickey Thompson Tires has been working on their big tire program by going smaller.

During the recently completed ADRL Dragpalooza event at Royal Purple Raceway outside of Houston, former Extreme 10.5 standout Jeff Naiser, made a significant statement when he ran 3.917 seconds at 189.87 miles per hour during Pro Nitrous qualifying.

The tire Naiser was running could be considered a “tweener”. It’s larger than the standard Mickey Thompson 10.5W used in the Extreme 10.5 division and much smaller than the rubber utilized in the Pro Nitrous division.

“This is essentially a 10.5 [style] tire on steroids,” said Jason Molton, Product Development Manager for Mickey Thompson Tires. “We took a look at the market and what we were trying to do with our big tire program. We’ve learned a lot with our big tire program.”

Mickey Thompson Tires has been working on their big tire program by going smaller.

During the recently completed ADRL Dragpalooza event at Royal Purple Raceway outside of Houston, former Extreme 10.5 standout Jeff Naiser, made a significant statement when he ran 3.917 seconds at 189.87 miles per hour during Pro Nitrous qualifying.

The tire Naiser was running could be considered a “tweener”. It’s larger than the standard Mickey Thompson 10.5W used in the Extreme 10.5 division and much smaller than the rubber utilized in the Pro Nitrous division.

“This is essentially a 10.5 [style] tire on steroids,” said Jason Molton, Product Development Manager for Mickey Thompson Tires. “We took a look at the market and what we were trying to do with our big tire program. We’ve learned a lot with our big tire program.”

The development of this tire was just one of many moves the leading tire manufacturer has made in a bid to grab the lion’s share of a vastly expanding market.

“What we decided to do was try to do a tire that no one else has,” Molton continued. “Let’s do what the market needs. Let’s build a tire for the class. Looking at the performances of the 10.5 class, we felt that we could make a tire for the Pro Nitrous class and Extreme Pro Stock category without having to go to such a large piece.”

The Houston event wasn’t the first outing for the new design as it has actually been in development for the last year with leading tester Billy Glidden. They had gotten to a point in the process when it became apparent they needed to branch out in another direction.

Enter Naiser.

Talk about being in the right place at the right time, Naiser just happened to pull into San Antonio Raceway as the conclusion was made. Mickey Thompson Tires looked to the freshman Pro Nitrous driver at the suggestion of Glidden, a driver who had raced head-to-head against him many times.

“We got to the point in testing that Billy suggested we put a set on a Pro Nitrous or XPS car,” explained Molton. [Billy] helped Jeff with some of the tuning tips and how to run the tire. He went from not getting down the track to running 3.90s.”

Those tread widths being tested for the “10.5W’s on steroids” are in the 13 to 14 inch width range. The standard tire used in Pro Nitrous is a 34 X 17 and according to Molton some are running 36 X 17.

Glidden believes further testing will tell the real story of the tire’s potential.

“Right now the jury’s still out,” Glidden admitted. “Jeff made some runs. I made half-dozen runs on several different tires. We put this tire on Jeff’s car and we are just getting into this class. Obviously he wants to do well and wasn’t afraid of the tire’s size or the look of it. Usually when you see something this much smaller than what is out there, generally people hesitate. We tried to get some Pro Stock guys to run it and they initially scoffed at it.

“We worked a program out where I am trying to help Jeff with more than just the tire and make the tire work with his car. For the most part, it has shown promising results. We have to get some runs on it, some different conditions. The jury is still out but it looks promising.”

For Molton, Naiser’s Houston performance was a major step in the right direction.

“We came to Houston knowing we only had one test and wanted to run it through the event,” Molton said. “So far, so good. We’re still collecting data. We’re getting a better feel of how this tire is going to perform and looking ahead to the next level.”

 

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