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NASCAR WCUP: No one knows what to expect with restrictor plates in New Hampshire

12 September 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--NASCAR Winston Cup Series officials announced Fri., Sept. 8, that mandatory restrictor plates would be used in Sunday's Dura Lube 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, N.H. Winston Cup teams will use a metal plate with one-inch holes under the carburetor to restrict the amount of gas and air intake into their race motors. These restrictor plates are currently being used only on superspeedways at Daytona (Fla.) and Talladega (Ala.).

With just one week to prepare for Sunday's race, Jimmy Elledge, crew chief of the Square D/Cooper Lighting Chevrolet, doesn't know what to expect this weekend for driver Kenny Wallace and the rest of the Square D Racing Team.

"Everybody in the grandstands will have as much experience with Loudon and restrictor plates as I do," said Elledge. "We don't know what it's going to be like. What I do know is that our transport driver is going to be overweight with all the gears we're going to take from the shop. There are just so many things that we don't know yet, so it's hard to speculate how we will adapt to the rule change. I'm guessing that with less power, we're going to free up the race car. But that's just a guess. I won't know until we practice on Friday. The only thing I can count on is that the race cars are going to run slower and the motors won't run as hard.

"You have to go up there with a positive attitude," added Elledge. "You approach it as an opportunity to do something different that other teams haven't thought of yet. I never liked my original Loudon setup because it didn't run well after 150 laps. Who knows, maybe now that setup will perform for the entire race. We're just going up there to do our best and see what happens."

The rule for the Dura Lube 300 was implemented by NASCAR to address recent safety issues at NHIS where crashes during practice took the lives of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin this season. The result of the rule change will slow down the speeds of Winston Cup race cars approximately 10 mph. While restrictor plates aren't Elledge's first choice to solve the problem, the crew chief does applaud NASCAR looking out for the safety of Winston Cup drivers.

"It was apparent that NASCAR had to do something for this race," said Elledge. "They were feeling pressure from the drivers, owners and fans. I'm not a big supporter of restrictor plates. If I had to make that decision for NASCAR, that wouldn't be my first choice. The good thing about our governing body (NASCAR officials) is that they're trying to fix the problem. If this rule change doesn't work, they'll find something that does. I don't think they'll say, 'we're running a one-inch restrictor plate forever and that's final.' They've been flexible in the past. We just have to approach this weekend with an open mind."

Text provided by Chris Hunt

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