Restrictor Plate Racing

[777joee]

Just to let you know I have participated although in the pits on a team in the SCCA and won a A Sports racing championship in the Golden Gate Reigion in 1988 so I have some knowlege in the sport. The problem is not with restrictor plates it is the way NASCAR wants the races run. At the short circuts you put all of the cars together on the track and it is prety full and not real high speeds. On the super speedways they are all spaced out. To bunch them up to give the fans a show they have to be as close as possibile. AKA IROC same cars, motors. setup and they are (for the most part) all bunched up. If you remove the restrictor plates off the cars on the super speedways then you would get a boring race to watch for the casual fan because the car with the most horsepower and least amount of drag will win or be out front until the end.

Here is how they could reduce the speed and get rid of the plates. Set a max gear ratio that you can run and get away from the plates. You will slow down the top speed but you will still have throttle responce when you step on it. Instead of a throttle that is wide open and you lift and it takes you ten minutes to catch up. You will get IMHO better shows for the fans.

 

[trmiv]

RegaPlanet:





<< Dinosuars from another age...??? Daytona is the the most important race to every driver in winston cup and Nascars premiere track. Talladega is the fastest superspeedway in North America... get a clue. >>



Yes they are, both tracks are old and were designed way before the current capabilities of the cars. The reason both tracks hold such premiere races IS because of their age.





<< You obviously have no clue about racing or car or PHYSICS for god sakes. >>



And you have no clue about RACING for god sakes.



<<

The faster you go the more wind resistance there is and there comes a point where no matter how much hp you have you cannot go any faster(speaking realistically). The ratio of wind resistance vs speed is won by wind resistance. Double your speed and quadruple the amount of wind resistance. More horsepower just means all the cars go faster therefore all the cars are running against more wind resistance so when they come out of the draft they're faced with an even higher ratio of speed vs wind resistance to make the pass. MAKING THE PASS EVEN HARDER AND SLOWER.

trmiv, dont speak about something you have no clue about. You dont design a race track for a car. You design and setup a car for a racetrack. >>



Fool, YOU are the one who should not talk about things you have ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE ABOUT. I have no clue about racing? Fool, I drive a race car. I race NASCAR Grand American Modifieds on short tracks, and you are telling me I don't know about racing? I have been around racing my entire life, my grandpa was a race car driver (hard tops, stock cars when they were stock cars), my dad was a race car driver (midgets, and sprint cars), I am a race car driver (karts, and modifieds). I have forgotten more about racing than you will ever know. You talk physics, I talk EXPERIENCE.

In this instance you design the track for the car, Talladega and Daytona are outdated, period. The cars are too fast now to run unrestricted around them, and restrictor plates ruin the racing at those two tracks. Read the quotes from the drivers, NONE of them are happy with the racing at Daytona or Talladega now. The tracks will not be redesigned due to their histories though, but NASCAR must do something because their restrictor plates and aerodynamic packages have ruined racing at those tracks.

 

[geno]

<< hows about actually racing a STOCK CAR >>


That would be pretty weak. The cars that existed when Stock Car meant "Stock Car", don't exist today. Let a stock Charger Daytona out on the track and see if a stock Mustang competes with it.

 

[RegaPlanet]

Cool, I drive a racecar too (CASCAR stock car) Just like thousands of other idiots out there that drive and dont' know what they're doing which I'm sure you're familiar with in both professional and hobbiest type series from your own experiences. 777joe made a interesting suggestion with gearing. And I do agree with you that the cars have developed to a degree where restrictions are necessary for them to race on certain tracks. There's always some form of restriction in any almost any class of racing to keep things competitive between cars and safe for whatever track they're racing at. But would it really matter how big the track was when you're going 200mph and cars run pretty tightly together? I do talk experience like yourself and I will formally apologize here for my attacking remarks, they were wrong, but only because you have driven yourself in a professional series. If you've been around a race track for as long as you say I'm sure you're familiar with alot of different people thinking they know alot of different things about racing.
I've heard all the talk, especially from Dale Earnheardt, rest his soul, when he was among the living about restrictor plate racing but what are ya really suppose to do? Ya can't let the cars run around the track at higher speeds due to safety and at high speed on an oval track the faster you go the harder it is to pass.

 

[LAUST]

<<

<< How about SCCA's BS rules? They see a full body mustang with a Supercharger on it and they throw you in a class with open wheel cars. Least with restrictor plate's you still race cars of your own type :disgust: >>

How about the fact that a Gen 3 RX7 is forced to use carburators instead of the stock feul injection. >>


I hear ya man it's the same way with almost EVERY car, if it's got FI it's considered modified :| They need to get with the times and realize Carburation is not being offered from the factory unless your buying a 2 stroke

 

[LAUST]

<< hows about actually racing a STOCK CAR
of course add roll bar and safety stuff

that way its the best of the best right off the lot that any joe can actually have

gives company motivation to have better products and will help out the comsumers with better quality >>


they USED to do that actually, Look up history on Superbirds and Thunderbirds especially they were some serious winners in their time.

 

[trmiv]

RegaPlanet: Don't worry about it, apology accepted. Glad to know someone else races stock cars here.




There are a few solutions as I see it. First, they could alter the tracks and take some banking out. Same tracks, less banking, the speed would not be as high and they could run unrestricted. Indy, and Pocono are about as big as Talladega and Daytona, but they don't have these problems there because the banking is not as high. Daytona is 31 degrees, Talladega is 33 degrees vs 14 at Pocono and 12 at Indy. Also you have the 2 mile Michigan at 18 and California at 14. The banking at Daytona and Talladega is too much for today's cars. Like I said, they are too fast undrestricted, and too equal and bunched together with the plates and the aero rules. Seriously though, the chances of Daytona and Talladega being altered and slim to none. Those tracks are major cash cows for NASCAR, and if there is one thing NASCAR likes, it's cash.


They could also try smaller engines at Daytona and Talladega. But, then you run into the whole problem of requiring a completely different engine for just 4 races. Or instead of reducing cubic inches, they could reduce the compression ratio to 9 to 1 (from the 12 to 1 that it is at now) at those two tracks, which would reduce horsepower, but not make the engines so ridculously unresponsive like they are now with that tiny restrictor plate, and the engines would stay the same size. The problem is now, the cars are so down on power that it takes 5 miles (2 laps) for them to get up to speed, and they can't run fast by themselves. Look at qualifying Compton was on the pole at 185mph, yet the cars were running 194 in traffic because of the draft. That is insane that the cars are alomost 10mph faster in the draft. The cars are too depenent on the draft at those tracks, and that is what is causing the problems.

Here is an article on NASCAR.com with quotes from a few drivers on how they feel about Daytona and Talladega. No one is happy with the way it is now. Drivers aren't going to Daytona and Talladega with visions of winning anymore, they are going with visions of not being involved in the big wreck that always happens. That has to change. They were interviewing Jeff Gordon after the race, and this guy who has won restrictor plate races in 6 consecutive years said he was just happy the restrictor plate races were over for the year.

 

[777joee]

Thanks for the mention RegaPlanet. I truly belive that a max top gear would do it. I had a friend that had a jet boat in the late 80's with a mild big block chevy and he wanted to go faster. So he put his money on the line for a 427 with aluminum heads and injection. What he did was pay a lot of money and went just as fast. If you think of a jet boat it does not matter how much horsepower you have you can only push so much water through the hole. You would do the same thing with the restrictor plate but you loose throttle responce. Throttle responce is crucial to racing. You need it to get you out of the way when you are in trouble.With gearing you still have the horsepower and the limiting factor is how high the motor will take the RPM's before you blow it up. With some being able to take more than others you bet back to the different designes to make the difference. Everything is so generic now you almost can't tell them apart. You could limit the speed to say 180 0r 190 and have a safer race but still have a good show for the fans. Watch some of the old races from the 60's they were always tight at the end and the max speed was 150 or 160.


Just my $.02 from an educated fan and former racer. I got my first look at racing in 1959 when my dad took me to the track out back. Silverstone, England. As a 5 year old I was sitting in Streling Moss's Jag. I will never forget it.

 

[Ladies Man]

thats why we need to bring back the stock car
cars like that would be around now