Richard Childress Racing had a difficult start on Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway. Just past 100 laps into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Good Sam 500, two of its drivers had single-car crashes.
On Lap 52, Ryan Newman's car took heavy damage when it slammed into the wall after a right-front tire issue, a bead failure which can in some cases be attributed to excessive brake heat. Newman went to the garage, but shortly after the team announced his day was over.
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On Lap 105, the caution came out again as teammate Paul Menard slammed into the wall, destroying the right side of his car. He climbed from the car uninjured.
Lap 52 of 312: Problems for @RyanJNewman at @PhoenixRaceway. Heavy right-side damage. Caution out. #NASCAR https://t.co/iHUbmsHHN0
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) March 13, 2016
Newman said that he didn't have any warning before his tire failed.
"We just blew a right-front tire," Newman said. "It must have melted the bead or something. I don't know if something failed in the cooling department or what the deal was. I didn't do anything any different than I've ever done here before. Just definitely blew a right-front tire out and that was the end of our day."
Ryan Newman's car: off the track, on the hook, out of the race (Getty Images)
As for Menard, he was less certain about what had happened to his car, though Goodyear officials later confirmed via Twitter that his tire also had a melted bead.
"I'm not really sure," Menard said when asked about what happened with his car. "We were OK that last run. We fired off pretty decent and started getting really tight at the end. I don't know if a left-front tire blew or what going into [Turn] 3. I don't know if something broke or if a tire blew. We are going to check it out. I'm curious about it."
Working in the garage. pic.twitter.com/bQPFG1WJYY
— RCR 27 Cup Team (@RCR27PMenard) March 13, 2016
Menard said that he had not been concerned after initial reports of what had happened on Newman's car, but that he still did not believe that his car had the same problem based on how it felt.
"I was told that it wasn't a tire failure on the No. 31 [of Newman], but then I just heard again that it was," Menard said. "I'm not really sure. To me it didn't feel like what happened to us was a tire failure, it felt like something broke. As soon as it happened I had no brakes either. I don't really know. We are going to go find out."
RCR last had a Sprint Cup win in November 2013 at Phoenix International Raceway, with then-driver Kevin Harvick. Its third car in Sunday's race was driven by Austin Dillon.