NASCAR officials made a pair of changes to the cars in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway. The sanctioning body is attempting to slow the cars, which topped 200 mph in both practice sessions.
Between the first and second practice, NASCAR reduced the size of the tapered spacers, which limit air flow to the carburetors and therefore slow the cars, with the alteration going into effect for the second session.
In that, teams went even faster with Tony Stewart leading the field with a lap of 202.238 mph and Brad Keselowski following at 202.234 mph. Aric Almirola and Dale Earnhardt Jr. also topped 200 mph in the session.
The tapered spacer will be up to 1 1/16th of an inch. A restrictor plate will also be added to the cars between the spacer and the carburetor. That plate, which can be 61/64ths of an inch, will further disrupt the air flow to the carburetor and should slow the cars. The change will be in place in time for Thursday's practice sessions.
“We didn’t have a test like the Cup teams had, so we’re allowing the teams to make changes during today’s practices,” Nationwide Series director Joe Balash said after the first change. "(The 200.303 mph) was not really the number we’re looking for.”
Danny Lawrence, of Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines, said NASCAR is shooting to slow the cars to around 195 mph. Nine teams were faster than 196 mph in Wednesday's final session.
