NASCAR Announced New Restrictor Rlates

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR announced Monday that Sprint Cup Series teams will use carburetor restrictor-plate openings of 1 1/32 inches for the July 3 event at Daytona International Speedway.

The plate in February at Daytona was 63/64-inch.
We think this will be a needed boost due to the additional drag we've picked up since switching from a rear wing to a rear spoiler.
 ROBIN PEMBERTONMonday's announcement pertains only to next month's race -- the last Cup Series event on the current Daytona asphalt. The 2.5-mile, high-banked superspeedway will be repaved prior to the 2011 Daytona 500.
Each restrictor plate contains four openings which restrict air flow to the engine, thus slowing cars. Larger openings mean more air, and more speed.
"We think this will be a needed boost due to the additional drag we've picked up since switching from a rear wing to a rear spoiler," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition.
Rule changes announced Jan. 21 mandated switching from a wing mounted on the rear deck lid of NASCAR's new car, back to a more traditional stock-car spoiler. The March event at Martinsville Speedway marked the first race for the new spoiler.
Carburetor restrictor plates are used only at Daytona and 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway. Events at those tracks are famous for their close competition.
The 1 1/32-inch size openings will be the largest since the one-inch mandate in 1988, the first year the horsepower-reducing plates were implemented for yearly use in Cup Series competition.
Teams used openings of 15/16-inch for this season's spring race at Talladega. That size was determined following a March 16 test at Talladega that helped answer several mechanical questions, among them, spoiler height and the restrictor-plate openings.

David Reutimann likes the change.
"I think a bigger plate is a good change. I know that NASCAR has put a lot of thought into that stuff. We are talking about very, very small changes. We're not talking about going from one inch to two inch. Anytime the plate gets bigger the horsepower goes up -- and I'm a fan of that. With the new configuration of the spoiler on the back I think it's a good fit for what we're trying to do."