Expert: Mike Carroll - 9/1/2009

Question
Hi.  I just recently bought a used race car tire and was told some information about it.  I just want to verify this information.  Can I find out by the serial number on this tire, or do I need to figure it out by the handwritten info on the tire?  It has a number written in yellow on the outside of the tire as well as on the traction part of the tire.  It has LF.1 written too.  And it also has a 4-digit number written in blue.  Any help would be great.  Thanks.

Answer
Hi Lisa,
I will try and give you as much information as I can.
The LF.1 means the tire was readied for the left front of the car and was put on during the first set of pitstops. I would be interested in knowing what numbers were written in yellow. Often times some teams will put their car number on the tire. It is not always yellow and lots of times they put it on the wheel itself.

The blue is an identification number used by goodyear if I remember correctly. It allows them to keep track of which tire specifically goes to which team.
You may even be able to contact goodyear and see if they can verify your tire information.

If you could post a picture of the tire I think I might be able to help you out further.

Thank You
Mike