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"Restrictor plate racing", a phrase that many fans love to hear. It is truly a spectacle to see 43 cars neck and neck with only 1.2 seconds between the leader and 43rd place. Is it dangerous? Of course it is, but so is racing by nature. Restrictor plate racing is the product of a decision made by NASCAR in 1987 after Bobby Allison's car left the ground at 200+ mph hit the retaining fence and sent various debris into the grandstands injuring spectators. The car never crossed the fence, but did proceed to narrowly miss the overhanging flag stand, and rip down the entire section of fence it made contact with. Restrictor plates starve the engine of horsepower, and as a result, speed. And of course when you mandate an engine modifier such as this, it limits the things teams can do to get an advantage. This essentially turns these NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racecars into more equal racing machines. The result of this is close racing and difficult passing. The only way to break the pack is to eliminate the parity and increase speeds. It is what it is and in order to protect the fans and ensure the safety of the attending majority, they must keep the speeds low to allow the car to stay trackbound. This would certainly protect the fans, but the drivers are put at an even greater risk. Though they are traveling at lower speeds, it bunches up the field and puts the drivers at a higher risk for a crash. The more crashes occur; the more likely a car will hit an object at a dangerous angle, which is the real reason for most injuries and deaths, not speed.

Restrictor plate racing is a very healthy part of NASCAR. In fact, restrictor plate racing contains, with the exception of danger, all the components that NASCAR themselves as an organization define as successful racing conditions. Some of the components that NASCAR considered positive were identified when they started creating the Car of Tomorrow. Many of these were already regularly practiced in restrictor plate racing due to the specific rules followed in order to allow "safe racing". The lower speeds caused higher parity, closer racing and improved competition. What resulted naturally from their cautious changes in 1987 was perfection according to NASCAR's COT specifications. It provides tight racing, neck and neck battles for the lead, photo finishes on a semi-regular basis, and nail biting action at every corner. They slam into each other as they bump draft, they side draft closely to each other in the corners, and

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