NASCAR will use smaller restrictor plates Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway to cut back speeds that approached 200 m.p.h. during practice sessions on the freshly paved track.

Teams and drivers were told of the change as they arrived for work Saturday morning.

The new plates will have four holes of seven-eighths of an inch in diameter, or one-64th smaller than the ones used Friday. Jeff Gordon set a top speed of 198.689 in one of Friday's two practice sessions.

Although NASCAR officials said they weren't concerned with the speeds during practice, they changed their mind following an evening meeting.

``We tried to downplay it and we didn't want to make a knee-jerk reaction,'' competition director Robin Pemberton said. ``We were hoping that the speeds would go the other way.''

The plates are expected to bring speeds back down around the 195-mph mark that was reached in the May race here.

``We've got our comfort zone,'' Pemberton said. ``We think we've been right there at the threshold for some time now.''

Restrictor plates are used at Talladega and Daytona, NASCAR's two biggest race tracks because the wide open lanes create speeds that would easily surpass 200 m.p.h. The carburetor plates are designed to sap the horsepower and make the speeds much more manageable.

But Talladega repaved the track over the summer, and the new asphalt created a smooth surface with better grip _ a perfect scenario for creating faster speeds. The drivers _ 18 of whom eclipsed 197 m.p.h. on Friday _ loved it and said it wasn't a big deal.

``The only reason the average speed of the lap is up is that we're maintaining more corner speed,'' said five-time Talladega winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. ``We're not going any faster at the flagstand than we were in the past. We're able to hold greater speed in the centre of the corners because we're not sliding so much.

``So I ain't got no big worry. The cars are so easy to drive, 90 per cent of the people inside this racetrack right now could drive them.''

Restrictor plates were introduced after a 1987 accident here when Bobby Allison's car went airborne and through the fence _ narrowly avoiding the grandstands. Bill Elliott set the track record that year with a qualifying mark of 212.809 m.p.h. that still stands.

The plates went into effect for the 1988 season, and Davey Allison won the Talladega pole at 203.827 m.p.h. _ the last time a lap has eclipsed 200.