tire?

[Super Dave]

Yeah, new to racing means that you need a tire with excelent grip because you're gonna make more mistakes that someone who's raced a bit more.  Your errors can be more costly.  

I use Michelins.  Locally the race tire distribution it through Tom Mason, who's a wealth of knowledge and great guy.

http://www.masonracintires.com

His phone number can be found there too.  I'd recommend just giving him a call to see what will be the new stuff available for this year and to gain knowledge.  Every year, tires change a bit.  Tom can sit down with you on the phone and give you some guidance.  I hope that helps, Pete.

[Jeff]

I ran the bridgestones last year with great results.  Running them again this year as well, and will achieve even better results.

Lifespan is equal to that of a pirelli.  My team-mate runs Pirelli's and was on basically the exact same swap schedule as I was.

Michelins seem to last longer, but would take a different setup (Mich front was shorter and both front-rear were 1-2mm narrower across usable tread).

Haven't tried any dunlops since 2004.

Bridgestone does have distributors.  Although, I don't know that they're going to be trackside.  They did scrap their AMA program after 2005 to focus more on the club efforts.

In props to Mason, a good RELIABLE, KNOWLEDGABLE tire man is definitely worth your time/money unless you can find a way around it using other professionals.  Tom is there every weekend and knows what he is doing.  While I don't run his tires, I would have NO problems recommending him to anyone.