(WOMR file photo)
As Easter closes in upon us, NASCAR is having its very own “Spring Break”! After eight straight weekends of racing the race teams get a much deserved weekend off for rest, relaxation, retrospection, and family time.
In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a lot going on, starting with the unreal level of parity that has made predictability an outdated term. Much has been said, and written, about the seven different winners to start the season, a streak broken this past weekend at Darlington Raceway when Kevin Harvick became the year’s first two-time winner. Overshadowed somewhat has been a concurrent revolving door, in the form of eight different Coors Light Pole winners to open the season, tied for the series’ longest season-opening streak of different pole winners.
It could be argued that the level of competition, at the Sprint Cup level, is the best it has ever been in 60+ years of NASCAR. In fact, the following statistics would support that very argument.
1. All three manufacturers have won races thus far, led by Chevrolet’s four victories.
2. An average of 12 different leaders per race, compared to 8.6 at this point last year.
3. An average of 25.6 lead changes per race, compared to 17.4 in 2013.
4. Total of 29,541 green flag passes, compared to 23,178 in 2013.
5. Total of 346 green flag passes for the lead, compared to 181 in 2013.
6. And … an average margin of victory of 0.588 seconds, the smallest since 2008.(nascar)
The next stop on the NASCAR calendar is next week at the Henrico County Fairgrounds, it is the short track that thinks it is a superspeedway. Many of you may know that track by it’s formal moniker, Richmond International Raceway.
Jeff Gordon is now is in the points lead, with a very slim lead of one point over Matt Kenseth, but all that can change after the drivers leave Richmond. Gordon is still without a victory in 2014 and is very hungry to get into “the Chase club” for 2014! Likewise, Kenseth has not come alive, and therefore he has not visited Victory Lane yet on ’14. Lookout for both of these drivers next weekend, either one could be the driver celebrating after the race!
Richmond always has been a critical weekend in the past, and I see no reason that Richmond will be any less of an important weekend for the drivers trying to secure a place in the 2014 Chase.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
