FanNation

The prolonged Fontana race weekend in February 2008 ended with Carl Edwards winning and not that many people watching.  Fontana once again failed to sell out, and amid discussion over handling of water seepage, rain delays, and other such issues, Michael Waltrip made an apparantly flippant remark that Fontana should be made into a restrictor plate track. 

The remark got surprising attention and even a pathetic response from Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond on their FOX Sports page about the folly of running restrictor plates at other tracks beside Daytona and Talladega.  But the idea is worth taking seriously, for we finally have a real alternative to the rules packages that haven't worked for the sport's other tracks for nearly two decades.

The 2008 California 500, the first run with the whole misbegotten Car Of Tomorrow design, had some good moments, but they were hardly better than what transpired at Fontana the previous September, where the battle for the lead was much more heated and saw some amazing three-abreast battling up front.  This was with the "old" bodystyle, and this Fontana race with the COT was yet another underwhelming view of the replacement of the old car.

It certainly didn't hold a glove to Daytona, which saw 42 lead changes and a much tighter finish than anything Fontana has seen.  There have been very few races away from the plate tracks since 1988 that were all that competitive.  True, Charlotte exceeded 40 lead changes in the 1988 World 600 and 2000 National 500, and Bristol exceeded 40 lead changes in the 1991 Southeastern 500 thanks to a bizarre pitstop and restart rule that doubled up the leaders.  The 1995 600 saw 32 official lead changes and numerous unofficial ones, while the Summer 500 at Pocono in 1995 saw 37 official lead changes and some 13 unofficial ones.  The 1991 Michigan 400 (a near-identical layout to Fontana) saw 32 official lead changes and 22 unofficial ones. 

But other than this, the restrictor plate races have consistently outshone other races in competitive ferocity.  Talladega in this decade has exceeded 40 official lead changes ten times, while Daytona broke that barrier twice in this decade.  In the 1990s Daytona or Talladega boasted the most lead changes in a season five times and invariably both tracks in the plate era have seen the most different leaders of a race. 

It is always cited that the 2000 New Hampshire 300 ran restrictor plates and the lead never changed after Jeff Burton took off on the opening lap.  This, though, ignores why there was so little passing - the weakness of the draft, combined with the usual points-racing mentality of drivers and a year-long inconsistency with tires that season - if anything that race had more consistent tire wear with the plates than New Hampshire had had without them the previous July.   The restrictor plate never impeded ability to pass; it was the weakness of the draft that needed addressing.  This is always shown when the NASCAR Modifieds race there - they run restrictor plates and the draft is so effective that the lead usually changes over 20 times in a 100-150 lap race. 

Making other big tracks restrictor plate tracks can go a long way toward getting the sport's competitiveness back, because the racing on plate tracks is consistently better than it is anywhere else.  It is an idea worth implementing because if you're going to make changes to racetracks like adding banking or whatever, go the whole route and make them into true superspeedways.   If you're going to make changes to racetracks -

Bank up Fontana, Michigan, Pocono, Chicagoland, Kansas, Kentucky, Atlanta, Texas, Charlotte, etc. to 33 degrees so they can become plate tracks.