As the series is set to hit the track at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS), memories of this spring's debacle of a race are hard to forget. In a race where nearly every driver complained of the of tire Goodyear chose to bring, drivers had only two or three laps at most before the tires fell off and driving around the mile-and-a-half speedway became nearly impossible.

In an attempt to curb any possibility of a repeat of March's issues, Goodyear held two separate tire tests at AMS in July and September. Spring race winner Kyle Busch, Yates Racing's Travis Kvapil and Haas-CNC Racing's Scott Riggs participated in both sessions, with positive results.

Busch explained the tires were not as much of a factor in March's race as much as the track and the new car. "I don't think we saw tire issues here in the spring," Busch clarified. "I don't remember any blow outs. I think the tires are pretty safe. I think the cars are a piece of crap."

After participating in both tire tests, Busch explained the new tire compound Goodyear has brought has given teams and drivers only a few more laps on good tires. "We ran here with the spring tire when we tested - we got one good lap then the car was all over the place sliding everywhere," Busch added. "We come here and tested we got eight good laps and the car was all over the place sliding everywhere. So, it's no different, you just got eight laps instead of one."

Without a doubt the most outspoken critic of that weekend, Tony Stewart ripped Goodyear for their choice of tire, criticized the company itself and caught a bit of flack for it in the process. Despite his harsh comments following earlier in the year, Stewart is confident Goodyear has brought the right tire for this weekend.

"If nobody said anything, nothing would've gotten done," Stewart went on to say. "Criticizing me for being outspoken about it - all I did was speak from the driver's standpoint and spoke the truth. It got something got done, didn't it? If it makes it safer for us and makes us all more comfortable as drivers out there, isn't that - at the end of the day - what's going to put on a better show for everybody."

While the race here in March seemed to be the first of a number of races centered around tire issues - perhaps culminated with the embarrassment at Indianapolis - Stewart doesn't think it should all rest on Goodyear's shoulders.

"Obviously, what we had in the spring wasn't anything that anyone of us wanted," the two-time Cup Series champion explained. "The great thing about it is that Goodyear was active about it. They said, "Okay, we have to do something about this." They came and did not one, but two tests here to make it better. That's all you can ask for. It sounded like from the comments we heard from the drivers that came and did the test that we have a lot better tire."

Even some crew chiefs in the garage don't necessarily believe tires will be a factor in Sunday's race. Steve Letarte, the man atop the box for Jeff Gordon, told HardcoreRaceFans.com that he didn't believe that tires have really been an issue this year. Dismissing the issues, Letarte instead pointed to the fact Atlanta's racing surface is old and abrasive.

Goodyear has a lot to consider when deciding what tire to bring each weekend, and Greg Biffle understands the limitations they are working in.

"When you"re working inside such narrow margins, man, it's really, really hard to get right on and I think that Goodyear does a great job at trying to balance all those things out," Biffle explained. "They've got a new car, a lot of new things that have been thrown at them and they weighed on the side of conservative here in the spring. You've got to think that we want them to weigh on the side of conservative."

With tire issues coming up seemingly week after week, Goodyear has caught a lot of guff from the media, competitors and fans alike. Listening to the comments made this weekend by a number of drivers and crew chiefs, it seems their concerns go much beyond Goodyear. So, blaming Goodyear may simply be a tiresome excuse.