Cara Adams is the chief engineer for Bridgestone Americas Motorsports. She and her team play a key role in the reliability and performance of the cars in the NTT IndyCar Series. In Part 1, Adams gives you her background and intro into racing and delves into some of the details about race tire construction including the mechanical and chemical aspects and how that changes depending upon tracks and car configuration. In Part 2, she discusses how Firestone communicates with teams during race weekends to maximize performance and what happens to the tires once they come off the cars and more. Enjoy!
By Larry Mason
Copyright © 2022 Larry Mason
Cara Adams is in her element on pit lane taking copious notes and communicating with the teams and media during race weekends.
The numbers on this Firestone tire indicate durometer readings (hardness) and depth measurements.
Here a team member heats and scrapes a worn tire clean to enable him to get a more accurate tire depth measurement.
Photos by Larry Mason