Will this be the last restrictor-plate race?
Tonight’s Pepsi 400 marks the final appearance in a plate race of the chassis design that is being supplanted by the COT. The COT will be used for the first time at a “restrictor-plate track" in the fall at Talladega.
Denny Hamlin, coming off his first victory of the season, thinks the COT will make a considerable difference.
“It’s just going to make them like the truck races, really, where the guys are just all packed tight together, where now our cars are so slick that they’re not handling the race track that well and we’re starting to spread out," said Hamlin. “Now we’re kind of going to take a step back and be back where we were. With the Car of Tomorrow, I think they’re going to suck up to each other so much that you’re just going to have a huge wad."
Jeff Burton wasn’t so sure.
“I don’t know," he said. “Ask me after Talladega. It’s too early to tell. I haven’t driven the Car of Tomorrow on a Superspeedway (i.e., a plate track). I certainly haven’t been on a race track with 42 other guys. I don’t know what to expect. I don’t have an opinion on that. I don’t have enough information to have an opinion." Gaston Gazette