NASCAR Cup Series will not use All-Star plate package again in 2018

By Asher Fair | Jun 22, 2018

CHARLOTTE, NC - MAY 19: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M and M's Red Nose Day Toyota, and Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #78 5-hour Energy/Bass Pro Shops Toyota (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /

The aerodynamic/restrictor plate package used in the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race will not be used again in the 2018 Cup Series season.

There are a total of 21 races remaining on the 36-race 2018 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, but NASCAR confirmed that none of those 21 races will feature the cars using the aerodynamic/restrictor plate package that was used in the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race earlier this season.

The 2018 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race, which was held at the four-turn, 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway quad oval in Concord, North Carolina, featured this package, as did the Monster Energy Open, which was the qualifying race for the All-Star race during which three additional drivers qualified for the main event.

Using this package, the cars were not set up like they are in a regular Cup Series race. They had restrictor plates, OEM specific aerodynamic ducts, a 2014-style splitter with a current radiator pan and a 6″ high spoiler with two 12″ ears.

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These two races were very much pack races, although they were certainly not pack races to the extent that the two restrictor plate races each season at both Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway are.

It was initially thought that this new package would be used in up to three races throughout the remainder of the 2018 Cup Series season, but that will not be the case.

As opposed to using this package in any of the remaining 21 races on the 2018 Cup Series schedule, NASCAR confirmed that they will continue to perform research and development work on the package throughout the rest of the season. Their goal is to design a new set of rules for the 2019 season.

Here is what NASCAR official Steve O’Donnell had to say about the matter, according to USA Today.

"“What we want to do is to continue to deliver on that great racing product, and to do that we need to spend the proper time talking to the engine builders, (car manufacturers) and race teams to see what, if anything, we could do this year. We all collectively felt like the best thing to do was to put additional effort into some potential tweaks and focus on 2019 versus a race or two this season. Everyone is aligned on doing what is best for the fans.”"

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Are you disappointed to hear the news that the aerodynamic package used in this year’s NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race will not be used in a Cup Series race throughout the remainder of the 2018 season, or are you glad to here this news? Are you excited for the possibility of a new set of rules for the 2019 season?

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