Seems back in the day after trying both, the factory teams favored panhard over the watts if I remember correctly, for what's worth, and not sure why.
That does seem an odd choice.
The Dodge team tried the watts and switched the panhard after a few races. Plymouth team ran panhards from the start. With all the teething pains of new cars in a new series, the simpler panhard system was one less thing to go wrong in set up, tuning, and longevity.
Regarding over tiring cars, its been a common trend for decades and is often the trade off of street compounds vs track compounds. Sure, narrower tires of better compound can work better than wider tires of lesser compounds which means reduced cost, reduced weight and improved grip. Evaluate the trade offs, and make a decision. Its kind of like the bigger and bigger cam selection theory in engine building.
