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INSIDE THE PLATE: The Story of Restrictor Plate Racing
Posted: April 2, 2003
By: Michael Grigsby
Restrictor plate racing is controversial. These plates choke the carburetor and solve one problem: excessive speeds, but they cause another one: big packs of tightly bunched up cars at 180mph. “Plate racing” is so close, that one tiny mistake or mechanical mishap can and often does result in huge and very dangerous multi-car pile-ups.
You may like the racing at Talladega and Daytona, but that little plate controls the race and everything you see in it. And all that you see is tightly packed cars in flimsy drafting lines, and cars that can’t maneuver traffic because they don’t have the horsepower to do it.
The Evolution of Speed
In the 1950’s and 1960’s, crew chiefs gained speed by either tinkering with the engine for more power, or with the chassis for more stability. In the 1970’s, racecar builders began to manipulate the aerodynamic dimensions of the car, working body angles to improve airflow as the car moved through the air at high speeds.
During this time, the cars were gaining both higher speeds, and the safety to travel at them. For example, in 1964, NASCAR mandated the rubber fuel cell, virtually eliminating the kind of blaze that killed Glenn “Fireball” Roberts. Two years later, legendary stock car builders John Holman and Ralph Moody used a stock Fairlane chassis, and developed the first race-built roll cage. And almost 40 years later, this frame and chassis design is still in use.
These added safety features, combined with more power and more sleek body styles, created astronomical increases in speed. By 1969, qualifying speeds for Daytona was 190mph. And at Talladega the very next year, it was almost 200mph.
Controlling Speed
In 1971, NASCAR ruled to slow the cars down, and they chose the restrictor plate. It worked and the speeds slowed automatically by over 10 miles per hour.
In the mid-1970’s, NASCAR mandated smaller engines for Cup cars, from 427 cubic inches to 358. Speeds slowed at bit, so for the moment, there was no need for the plates and NASCAR got rid of them.
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Posted: April 2, 2003
By: Michael Grigsby
Restrictor plate racing is controversial. These plates choke the carburetor and solve one problem: excessive speeds, but they cause another one: big packs of tightly bunched up cars at 180mph. “Plate racing” is so close, that one tiny mistake or mechanical mishap can and often does result in huge and very dangerous multi-car pile-ups.
You may like the racing at Talladega and Daytona, but that little plate controls the race and everything you see in it. And all that you see is tightly packed cars in flimsy drafting lines, and cars that can’t maneuver traffic because they don’t have the horsepower to do it.
The Evolution of Speed
In the 1950’s and 1960’s, crew chiefs gained speed by either tinkering with the engine for more power, or with the chassis for more stability. In the 1970’s, racecar builders began to manipulate the aerodynamic dimensions of the car, working body angles to improve airflow as the car moved through the air at high speeds.
During this time, the cars were gaining both higher speeds, and the safety to travel at them. For example, in 1964, NASCAR mandated the rubber fuel cell, virtually eliminating the kind of blaze that killed Glenn “Fireball” Roberts. Two years later, legendary stock car builders John Holman and Ralph Moody used a stock Fairlane chassis, and developed the first race-built roll cage. And almost 40 years later, this frame and chassis design is still in use.
These added safety features, combined with more power and more sleek body styles, created astronomical increases in speed. By 1969, qualifying speeds for Daytona was 190mph. And at Talladega the very next year, it was almost 200mph.
Controlling Speed
In 1971, NASCAR ruled to slow the cars down, and they chose the restrictor plate. It worked and the speeds slowed automatically by over 10 miles per hour.
In the mid-1970’s, NASCAR mandated smaller engines for Cup cars, from 427 cubic inches to 358. Speeds slowed at bit, so for the moment, there was no need for the plates and NASCAR got rid of them.
More