DW is nothing special. DJ is pretty good. Rusty is bad, Wally is bad, and KP is bad. I would take DW has got more annoying though. If I am ever upset at DW I just remember what Smoke said to him at Dover. Makes me feel better.
New cars, never know until a few races in. Testing doesn't tell us (the fans) anything.
Lead changes though 29 races 2011: 782 (27.0 per)
Lead changes through 29 races 2012: 519 (17.9 per)
Difference: -263 or -9.1 per race
Cautions through 29 races 2011: 246 (8.5 per)
Cautions through 29 races 2012: 161 (5.6 per)
Difference: -85 or -2.9 per race
Looking at these numbers, even if the caution total was the same the lead changes would still be down. Clearly the quality of racing has been down this year even if the caution total is down. Now, of course, the lead changes at Daytona and Talledega were way up last year, but subtract those races out of the total and those lead change totals are still way down.
2011 lead changes w/o plate races through 29 races (26 counted): 563 (21.6 per)
2012 lead changes w/o plate races through 29 races (26 counted): 448 (17.2 per)
Difference: -115 or -4.5 per race
2011 cautions w/o plate races through 29 races (26 counted): 218 (8.4 per)
2012 cautions w/o plate races through 29 races (26 counted): 140 (5.4 per)
Difference: -78 or -3 per race
2011 first 3 plate races: 219 lead changes with 28 cautions (73 lead changes and 9.3 cautions per race)
2012 first 3 plate races: 71 lead changes with 21 cautions (23.6 lead changes and 7 cautions per race)
Truck race at Talledega is at 4PM EST today (20:00 GMT)
Can someone some up the last 20 laps or kindly find a video of them for me to watch? I'm told I should see them, just couldn't get to a TV for the race today though.
I absolutely refuse to watch the end of any NASCAR restrictor plate race anymore (bar the Daytona 500) because invariably, there's always a wreck of some type on the last half of the last lap and the frickin' morons in race control at NASCAR doesn't get the concept that a) they're already wrecking anyway and no amount of yellow flags or divine intervention will stop them or anyone else from wrecking and b) they'll be slowed down after finishing in plenty of time before returning to the scene of the carnage. I end up raging at my TV and end in a bad mood the rest of the night.
But that wreck (after I saw it on YouTube mind :P) was nothing special, there's been worse.