Tapered spacer

Tapered spaces are deviced installed at the of an engine to limit its power. This kind of system is occasionally used in road vehicles (e.g., motorcycles) for insurance purposes, but mainly in automobile racing, to limit top speed to provide equal level of competition, and to lower costs; insurance purposes have also factored in for motorsports.

History
Plate racing has drawn plenty of criticism over the years, mostly from drivers and team owners who prefer cars not be bunched together in two- and three-wide packs at nearly 200 mph and where the slightest contact creates a chain reaction and often mangles a bunch of $300,000 cars. During this month's Speedweeks, though, the package has created less-than-ideal single-file racing that has some wondering what the 61st running of “The Great American Race” will look like.

NASCAR implemented the use of restrictor plates at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway as a safety measure more than three decades ago. The hope was that slower cars would be less likely to go airborne following Bobby Allison's crash at Talladega in May 1987. His car sailed into the catch-fence, spewing debris into the stands.

That same year, Elliott set qualifying records at both tracks, reaching 210.364 mph at Daytona and 212.809 mph at Talladega. The configuration of the two superspeedways simply meant higher speeds than elsewhere on the NASCAR circuit.

Slowing down the cars was the quick and easy fix.

“I probably contributed to restrictor plates quite a bit,” Elliott said. “If I hadn't done it, somebody else would have come along and done it. We can always look back and say, ‘Well, we should have done this or should have done that.’ Here we are 32 years later, and if they would have left the engines unrestricted, guys would be doing 230-plus now.”

Drivers expect little effect from the switch, even though the parts are distinctly different.

The 2019 rules package mandates those same-sized spacers at all tracks less than 1.33 mi. A 0.922 in spacer will be used at all oval tracks 1.33 mi and above, which will decrease engine horsepower to about 550 hp. That includes Daytona and Talladega but didn't take effect until after the 2019 Daytona 500.

NASCAR's expectation is that reducing horsepower — in connection with a larger spoiler that creates more downforce — will slow the cars down, lead to more stability for drivers and produce tighter racing.

“I totally expect to crash more cars,” defending series champion Joey Logano said. “As cars are closer and drivers are more aggressive, a mistake will create a bigger crash. We can't get away from it. You know how it is when you're on the highway and they check up right in front of you. You can't stop quick enough and you're only going 70, you know? Try going 180. Game changes a little bit.

“So I assume there will be more crashes. I assume we're all going to tear more stuff up this year. And usually when there's more crashes, there's more conflict. So it will be interesting. Hang on.”

All of it is designed to give fans what they want: better, more dramatic races — much like they've had at Daytona and Talladega for 30-plus years.

“Nobody knows exactly what to expect,” Stewart-Haas Racing team co-owner Tony Stewart said. “Having a restrictor-plate package, open package, this new package, we're all excited to see what it produces. At the end of the day, it's all about making the racing more exciting for the fans, re-engaging the fans in the sport.

“I think restrictor-plate racing at Daytona and Talladega is always going to be an element of its own that really is separate from what you see the rest of the season.”

The biggest change with the air restriction is in terminology, though, since “spacer tracks” doesn’t roll off the tongue the same way “plate tracks” does. As 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch responded when asked about the last traditional “plate” race, the 2015 Daytona 500, “Tapered spacers are still restrictor plates.”

NASCAR broadcasts get a lot of flak, rightfully so, over a real lack of diverse voices, resulting in often dated, out-of-touch commentary, not to mention occasionally being just plain silly. But if there’s one thing NASCAR broadcasts get really, really right, it’s the technical breakdowns of the cars and racing.

The cars moved to a variable-sized tapered spacer already used at all other tracks, with the exception that the spacer would have smaller holes than the ones used at the smaller tracks, to ensure speeds stay under 200 MPH. The shape of the spacer helps a car funnel more air smoothly into the manifold, increasing fuel performance, while ensuring airflow is still restricted. With that change, NASCAR also mandated the use of larger rear spoilers, larger front splitters, and specially-placed front end aero ducts. The combination of those features increased drag on the cars, counteracting the increased horsepower, keeping the cars close to the speeds they were running prior to the switch to the tapered spacer. While the racing quality noticeably improved, and passing was made easier with larger horsepower and bigger runs, speeds also noticeably increased past 200 MPH, and even into 205 MPH ranges.

The drawback to the use of the tapered spacers has been the increased size of packs of cars caused by the decreased power coupled with the drag the vehicles naturally produce. At Daytona and Talladega, most races are marred by at least one wreck, usually referred to as "the Big One", as cars rarely become separated. Talladega has been considered the more likely track for these instances to occur as the track is incredibly wide, enough to have three to four distinct lines of cars running side by side. With the new pavement at Daytona, three-wide racing became far easier, and multi-car wrecks became more common. The 2011 Daytona 500 saw a record number of cautions including an early 17-car pile-up. These wrecks tend to be singled out for criticism despite multicar crashes at other tracks and the generally greater severity of impact on non-restricted tracks. In addition, the packs were far smaller in 1988 through 1990 until more teams mastered the nuances of this kind of racing and improved their cars (and drivers) accordingly.