NASCAR introduced the application of resin on certain ovals to prompt drivers to take a higher, more aggressive racing line. But the impact that it seems to be having on races has split opinions. 

Resin allows for rubber to be laid down quicker on the track to allow multiple optimal racing lines to be formed based on where the maximum drivers lay down rubber.

Kayden Honeycutt, who is in the hunt for the Craftsman Truck Series title this year, finished the Nashville race in 27th on Friday, three laps down. The No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota driver spoke bluntly about the lack of impact of resin on races. While speaking with Frontstretch post-race, he said:

“What’s the point of it? It makes the racing worse,” said Honeycutt. “So it makes the track come in 20-30 laps later than it should have. I don't know if you saw the first stage, it was completely black down there in (turns) three and four, and all of a sudden, you came out on the racetrack, and it’s completely clean again. It’s just when you have sticker tires, they pick up the hot rubber that’s sitting on the racetrack, and it just evaporates, and there’s nothing. It’s always been like that.”

Honeycutt mentioned the problem most have been facing. The rubber being laid down doesn’t stick around long enough to create an alternate race line. He even compared the impact of resin at Nashville to the All-Star Race at Dover, highlighting how both were pointless.

“Restarts here are really treacherous. I don’t want to say the resin was the issue. The resin definitely didn’t fire off very well from the middle of the top, but it didn’t fire off good at Dover, and it has the same treatment.”

NASCAR’s Thought Process with Resin

NASCAR began using a compound PJ1 Track Bite, a custom chemical formula that is sprayed on the track to create more racing lines and prompt more side-by-side racing. 

This move came after NASCAR observed that lines formed in certain portions of the race with nearly no overtaking. PJ1 had an issue, though. It never set in immediately. Resin was meant to make tire wear less, but just enough so that multiple race strategies come to the front.

Today, NASCAR has moved to a general resin formula that doesn’t take as much time to set in as PJ1. It isn’t applied across the entire track but rather at all four turns on an oval as high as possible to prompt cars to attack across different parts of the track. 

But it’s so sensitive, one small mistake on a resin track can make a driver spin out before they can get control of the steering again. Kaden Honeycutt also cited an example from Bristol, where PJ1 was first introduced, saying:

“Every time we go to Bristol, it’s the same way. That’s why when we didn’t lay resin at Bristol, it raced better. I think they’re just trying to figure out ways to make it two or three races, and apply them in. It’s just not the way it needs to be; hopefully, I know Bristol is the only track going forward, I think that’s anything being applied.”

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Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Yask Kotak