Another race weekend and another set of tire issues. From Atlanta, to Indy and now the high banks of Talladega, it seems Goodyear's bad year just keeps on rolling.

Goodyear's weekend got off to a bang on Friday afternoon, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. blew a right rear tire while leading a pack of cars in practice. Running out front, the blown tire sent sheet metal from the rear of the No. 88 Amp Energy Chevrolet rocketing into the air as he spun around, collecting four or five others.  Earnhardt Jr. had no real warning and had little he could do to hold on.

Come Sunday, the first tire issue happened on Lap 53 when David Reutimann's right rear tire blew heading down the backstretch. Running mid-pack, Reutimann lost control of the No. 44 UPS Toyota and slid towards the infield. Chase contender Jeff Gordon was running behind Reutimann at the time and was forced to take evasive action to miss hitting the No. 44 in the door, but in the process drove hard into the outside wall.

This incident looked quite tame when compared to the tire failure Brian Vickers experienced while battling for the lead. Racing three wide for the lead on Lap 68, Vickers led the middle line, with Martin Truex Jr. pushing Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the outside. Going through the tri-oval Vickers' right front tire exploded, sending the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota up into Truex and triggering the first 'Big One' of the day.

"I felt a bomb explode in my right front tire," a baffled Vickers said from the infield. "I just went down into the tri-oval and it didn't cut or go flat -- it exploded. I saw the right-front fender going through the air before the front of the car even dropped. It was the same thing that happened to (Dale Earnhardt) Jr. in practice."

"The No. 83 was right there inside of me and his right front tire exploded. I heard BAM like a shotgun going off. Just along for the ride from there. It is unfortunate," Truex Jr. explained. "The No. 83 was inside there and his right front tire just exploded. A lot like what happened to Dale, Jr. in practice I guess. I was talking to him (Brian Vickers) in there (infield care center), he said it didn't give him any warning. He didn't think ran anything over, it just exploded. At that point I was just a long for the ride. I took a pretty hard like down there on the inside wall."

Unfortunately, Vickers' incident was not the last of the tire problems. Running towards the front of the pack on the inside lane, Mike Wallace - driving a fourth Richard Childress Racing entry - had a left rear tire blow on Lap 81. Wallace was remarkably able to maintain control of the car and avoided causing another massive pile-up.

Perhaps the hardest hit of the day came, however, when leader Denny Hamlin's right front tire gave way on Lap 98. Running well over 190 mph, Hamlin's No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry shot straight into the Turn 2 wall. Hamlin had to be helped from the vehicle and was taken to a local hospital where he was kept overnight for evaluation.

Still the hits kept coming. On Lap 184, Jamie McMurray fell victim to a tire issue when his right rear tire gave out. Littering the track with debris, McMurray brought out the tenth and final caution of the day and set up the Green-White-Checkered finish.

"To be honest with you, that wasn't no fun," Dale Earnhardt Jr. explained after climbing from his car. "The tires were blowing. Everybody was scared about the tires blowing. Anybody can pass, no skill involved. We are going to tear up a lot of race cars with this the way it is. The tires were worrying me. I was scared to death I was going to blow a right front tire again. That No. 11 car, I ain't never seen a car hit the wall that hard. We just kept seeing tires blow. I was hoping NASCAR would say something to make us all feel better because we was getting all nervous out there."

Having tire issues like this is unacceptable at this level of racing. The races at Atlanta and Indianapolis earlier in the year were an embarrassment for the sport and should never happen again. When so much is at stake at a place like Talladega - I'm talking safety, not the Chase - worrying about tire issues should be the last thing on a drivers mind. Whether teams are using the wrong air pressure, the track surface needs attention or tires are simply failing, NASCAR needs to work with the teams, tracks and Goodyear to resolve these issues immediately.