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Sprint Cup
CUP: Talladega – New Race, New Plates
Sprint Cup teams will run with smaller engine restrictor plates this weekend…
The size of the restrictor plate that teams will use to prepare and practice for the fall Talladega race will increase by 1/64 inch and is now going to be 57/64 inch diameter. (Photo: Getty Images)
The restrictor plate dance, long a staple at Talladega Superspeedway, is here again.
Sprint Cup cars will roll onto the racing surface at NASCAR’s biggest track Friday wearing new hardware – a 7/8 inch engine restrictor plate. The plate is slightly smaller – 1/64 inch – than the plates teams used for the Daytona 500 as NASCAR attempts to keep the racing at its two giant tracks more or less the same.
In February at Daytona, NASCAR moved through a series of changes – including plate sizes and adjustments to car cooling systems – to discourage speeds that crested at more than 206 miles per hour in the season-opening Budweiser Shootout. Speeds eventually dropped to acceptable levels – generally considered below 200 mph, although Daytona’s super-smooth new racing surface created the odd sight of virtually everyone racing in two-car tandem drafts.
That approach also was seen – on a more limited scale – last fall at Talladega, and drivers expect more of the same this weekend in the runup to and in the Aaron’s 499.
“I think that Talladega is a much wider race track,” Jeff Gordon said. “There’s a lot more racing lines and grooves and room to race on. We should be able to do the two-car drafts a lot easier than we did at Daytona.
“Hopefully, we’re not hooking and spinning one another like we were in Daytona. I think that there’s no doubt that it will come down to two-car drafts, but it’s more of two cars that can stay hooked up together and not have to put air to the nose to the car in back – the ones that can do the best job of that and the switch over – those are the ones that are going to go fast.”
Roush-Yates Engines specialist Mike Messick said he expects Talladega speeds to be similar to last fall’s despite the plate change.
“There shouldn’t be a drop,” he said. “We’ll still be plenty fast. The plate change is not going to be a big ordeal. This will be the first time at Talladega with the new nose, but everyone has worked since last fall to get the engines and the cars better. There probably won’t be a noticeable difference.”
Will the Daytona two-car drafts move over to Talladega?
“It will be interesting to see in practice Friday if you end up two-by-two or in a bigger pack,” Messick said. “It didn’t work last fall like it did at Daytona.”
Carl Edwards said he expects Talladega competition to look the same as in previous races.
“I think we would still see the exact same style of racing,” he said. “If two cars are better at ‘x’ speed, then two cars should be better at ‘2x’ speed. I don’t think it will change anything.
“Overall, it will just keep the speeds lower, so there is less of a danger of that big flying-through-the-air wreck that nobody wants to see there. I think that will be the difference, but it should look just the same.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
Sprint Cup cars will roll onto the racing surface at NASCAR’s biggest track Friday wearing new hardware – a 7/8 inch engine restrictor plate. The plate is slightly smaller – 1/64 inch – than the plates teams used for the Daytona 500 as NASCAR attempts to keep the racing at its two giant tracks more or less the same.
In February at Daytona, NASCAR moved through a series of changes – including plate sizes and adjustments to car cooling systems – to discourage speeds that crested at more than 206 miles per hour in the season-opening Budweiser Shootout. Speeds eventually dropped to acceptable levels – generally considered below 200 mph, although Daytona’s super-smooth new racing surface created the odd sight of virtually everyone racing in two-car tandem drafts.
That approach also was seen – on a more limited scale – last fall at Talladega, and drivers expect more of the same this weekend in the runup to and in the Aaron’s 499.
“I think that Talladega is a much wider race track,” Jeff Gordon said. “There’s a lot more racing lines and grooves and room to race on. We should be able to do the two-car drafts a lot easier than we did at Daytona.
“Hopefully, we’re not hooking and spinning one another like we were in Daytona. I think that there’s no doubt that it will come down to two-car drafts, but it’s more of two cars that can stay hooked up together and not have to put air to the nose to the car in back – the ones that can do the best job of that and the switch over – those are the ones that are going to go fast.”
Roush-Yates Engines specialist Mike Messick said he expects Talladega speeds to be similar to last fall’s despite the plate change.
“There shouldn’t be a drop,” he said. “We’ll still be plenty fast. The plate change is not going to be a big ordeal. This will be the first time at Talladega with the new nose, but everyone has worked since last fall to get the engines and the cars better. There probably won’t be a noticeable difference.”
Will the Daytona two-car drafts move over to Talladega?
“It will be interesting to see in practice Friday if you end up two-by-two or in a bigger pack,” Messick said. “It didn’t work last fall like it did at Daytona.”
Carl Edwards said he expects Talladega competition to look the same as in previous races.
“I think we would still see the exact same style of racing,” he said. “If two cars are better at ‘x’ speed, then two cars should be better at ‘2x’ speed. I don’t think it will change anything.
“Overall, it will just keep the speeds lower, so there is less of a danger of that big flying-through-the-air wreck that nobody wants to see there. I think that will be the difference, but it should look just the same.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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