Race Weekend Central

Restrictor Plates Being Considered for XFINITY Series at Indianapolis

Recently, NASCAR racing at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway has received mixed views. But a recent decision might change the racing in a positive direction.

NBC Sports confirmed a report Monday afternoon (March 20) that came from freelance journalist Michael Knight last weekend that NASCAR was exploring the idea of using restrictor plates at IMS for the NXS race on July 22. The news was also reported last November in the Arizona Republic.

Early last October, NASCAR held a test with XFINITY teams at the 2.5-mile track that featured restrictor plates on the cars. Currently, NASCAR only runs the plates at two tracks, Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The plates are used across all three national series.

The Lilly Diabetes 250 had a total of zero on-track passes for the lead. Kyle Busch dominated, leading all but one lap in the 2016 race. Busch also led 149 of the 170 laps in the Brickyard 400 on Sunday. That race had a total of four lead changes.

The move also comes with some possible consequences for the top series. Knight also reported that the use of restrictor plates for the MENCS at the Brickyard in 2018 will be evaluated after the sanctioning body sees how the NXS race plays out later this summer.

The addition of a restrictor plate package in 2018 would put Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway alongside Indianapolis on the list of tracks to have plates added.

The Brickyard 400 will take place on July 23 on NBC.

About the author

Davey is in his fifth season with Frontstretch and currently serves as a multimedia editor and reporter. He authors the "NASCAR Mailbox" column, spearheads the site's video content and hosts the Frontstretch Podcast weekly. He's covered the K&N Pro Series and ARCA extensively for NASCAR.com and currently serves as an associate producer for SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and production assistant for NBC Sports Washington. Follow him on Twitter @DaveyCenter.

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Bill B

This has disaster written all over it. Of course, the quality of the racing at Indy can’t get much worse,,, right?

Capt Spaulding

This idea might even provide fans with more suck than the the 2008 Allstate Brickyard 400.

Ken

Here is a better idea, drop going to The Brickyard completely, and move the weekend to Road America.

John Matthew

You have to be kidding. This is taking a bad race and making it worse. The only way Indianapolis NASCAR racing will ever be any good is to move back to IRP or Lucas or whatever they call it now. Watching Cup, Xfinity, or truck racing at the 500 speedway is terrible and boring. I live only 50 miles from the track, and I’ll never go back there because the view is so bad. I’ll drive several hundred miles to see a race before I’d go back to Indy.

Whoever made this decision should watch the tape of the racing show with Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty on NBCSN last night. They were spot-on regarding this subject.

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