IndyCar and Firestone make changes to tire allocations

The IndyCar Series is making an adjustment to its tire allocation rules in 2025 where its partners at Firestone will provide an extra set of higher-grip alternate tires and remove one set of primary tires at most road and street courses.

Though 2024, Firestone provides four sets of alternates and six sets of primaries, and this season, it will be an even split at five and five. The only exceptions are found at The Thermal Club’s high-wear road course where primaries are needed more than alternates, and the brief Indianapolis road course event which is a two-day affair, where the previous apportioning of four alternates and six primaries will continue.

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The rest of the road and street course tire rules from 2024 have been carried over, which includes the allowance of using a set of alternates during the opening practice sessions and the provisioning of an extra set of primaries to rookies.

IndyCar also asked Firestone to create a wider performance separation between primaries and alternates.

“It's nicer to have an extra set (of alternates), especially if you qualified right on the limit there in the Fast 12 at like, 11th, where it was a real disadvantage,” Colton Herta told RACER. “Or 12th, because you burned through more sets, didn’t get much out it, and the guys behind that didn’t go through to the Fast 12 would have two sets of new (alternates).

“It still might be an advantage on races where you're really going to run the red a lot because they’d still have three sets and you'll have two, but it'll close that gap a little bit, make it a little bit more manageable. It should open things up a little bit more for us, which we like when IndyCar gives the team a little bit more control.”