Editing Restrictor plate (section)

=== The competitive quality of restrictor plate racing ===
A frequent criticism of restrictor plates is the enormous size of packs in races, with "Big One" wrecks as noted above singled out for condemnation despite the greater violence of smaller-scale crashes on unrestricted tracks. In restrictor plate racing, the packs have brought about an often-enormous increase in positional passing; at [[Talladega Superspeedway]], the Sprint Cup cars have surpassed 40 official lead changes sixteen times from 1988 onward, including both 2010 Sprint Cup races at Talladega, which had 87 official lead changes in the regulation 188 laps. (The [[2010 Aaron's 499]] had 88 lead changes, but the 88th{{snd}}the race-winning pass by [[Kevin Harvick]]{{snd}}was on the last lap of the third attempt at a [[green-white-checkered finish]]). [[Daytona International Speedway]] has generally been less competitive because the age of the asphalt (the track was repaved in 1978 and again in 2010) has reduced grip for the cars and thus handling has impeded passing ability to a significant extent. The 2000 New Hampshire race was criticized because Jeff Burton led wire to wire; the plates were singled out as impeding ability to pass, a criticism contradicted by the use of restrictor plates in a [[NASCAR K&N Pro Series East|Busch North]] support race the day before, where the lead changed seven times in 100 laps, and by the highly competitive nature of restrictor plated Modified races; as noted above, the 300 also saw a 23-car battle for third in the first ten laps and a burst by 22 cars from John Andretti.

The criticism stems from reduction in throttle response brought by the restriction. The reduction in throttle response, however, has never been shown to have impeded ability to pass; the criticism was shot down in the first "modern" plate race, the [[1988 Daytona 500]], as the lead changed 25 times officially and saw several bursts where the lead changed several times a lap and also several bursts of sustained side-by-side racing, notably in the final 50 laps between [[Bobby Allison]], [[Darrell Waltrip]], [[Neil Bonnett]], and [[Buddy Baker]].

Said Waltrip before the race, "I feel, as a driver, now I can do more than I could before [the plates]. Now, instead of a car just blasting by me with a burst of speed and a lot of horsepower, he's got to think his way, he got to ''drive'' his way around me."

In the transitional years (1971–76) where the seven-litre engines (430 cu in) had restrictor plates, Daytona and Talladega broke 40 official lead changes six times, while [[Michigan International Speedway]] broke 35 official lead changes in both of its 1971 races.