By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
In the interest of safety, NASCAR has announced that they will reduce the size of the restrictor plate in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series from 7/8ths to 55/65ths.
This move stems from safety concerns from teams, who are running over 200 mph around the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway.
Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford, shared his concerns in the media center after practice.
“I expect some fairly significant changes. I don’t know exactly what will happen but the cars are about five to ten miles per hour faster than they have been here in the last two to three decades. The liftoff speed it probably a concern, not just for me but for everybody. With the cars handling the way they are handling, you will need to single-file out to survive this race,” Keselowski said.
“I think that is probably not the expectation of what we want to put on for a show. I would expect there to be some changes for sure. As to what they might be, I don’t know. As to whether whatever changes are made will be successful, I don’t know that either. I would expect some kind of move to be made.”