Compelling finishes rev up NASCAR

While there are a lot of statistics to prove the quality of racing has improved this year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the most compelling evidence has been found in the garage area.

That's where battle-worn race cars are parked after a race, many with the scars of side-by-side, nose-to-tail racing, others with fenders marked by unforgiving concrete walls and tire marks.

New lower downforce rules and a fresh wave of intensity already created a lot of memorable finishes year. And with more rules under consideration, many believe competition will only get better.

Two weeks ago at Dover, Del., Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott chased each other during the final 30 laps, all three fish-tailing through the corners.

Although Larson was able to get beside Kenseth several times in the closing laps - and with Elliott getting to their back bumpers - Kenseth managed to win.

Larson's car bounced off the fourth turn wall on the final lap in a final desperate attempt to catch the 2003 series champion.

Nobody had a better view than Elliott.

"It was definitely wild, from my view," Elliott said. "If the fans didn't get what they wanted to see today, then they need to go do something else. That was a heck of a race, in my opinion."

The NASCAR control tower was just as impressed.

"There were some fist-pumps," Sprint Cup Series managing director Richard Buck said.

Last Saturday, Larson won a side-by-side duel with Elliott to win one of the qualifying races for the Sprint All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. They bumped each other coming off Turn 4, their cars sparking and smoking all the way to the checkered flag.

Later that night, Joey Logano eventually won a bumper-car stretch drive with Larson in the final two laps to win the $1 million all-star race. It was the first time since 2009 there was a winning pass made in the final eight laps.

Everyone agrees a collaboration between the sanctioning body, race teams and the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. resulted in a rules package that's stripped cars of a lot of their aerodynamic gadgets. Without engineered traction, drivers now play a greater role in a car's success.

"We have a great community that feeds a lot of information to us," Buck said. "We heard loudly from the drivers. They wanted to have more of an impact. We worked on that format. And we listened to the fans."

NASCAR reduced the size of the rear spoiler and the front bumper valiance to take away downforce. Before the all-star race, the sanctioning body also eliminated the use of fans in the wheel wells and further restricted how much the rear axle can move to take away even more traction.

According to Buck, NASCAR has learned "simpler is better."

Brad Keselowski, who finished second to Logano in the all-star race, is one of many who's embraced the changes.

"I don't know how you can get much more compelling racing than what we saw [Saturday]," Keselowski said.

The focus from all sides has been to reduce speeds in the middle of the corners.

Instead of simply hanging on, drivers now have a greater ability to make passes.

"Ultimately, we can take more chances when the speeds are down and the person in front of us is lifting off the throttle. It allows us to carry it in there, similar to like I did in Kansas," Denny Hamlin said. "It gave me the opportunity to make a move. It may work, it may not. It didn't in my case, but it at least gave me the chance to.

"I think it's kind of an effort to make the racing better. I think anytime you slow the speeds down, racing will always be better. I look forward to it."

The season started with Hamlin winning the closest finish - .010 seconds - at the Daytona 500. That photo-finish margin was matched three weeks later at Phoenix by Kevin Harvick.

Eight of the first 12 regular season races have ended with a margin of victory of less than one second. According to NASCAR, the average margin of .877 seconds is the closest since electronic timing was introduced in 1993.

While official lead changes are calculated only at the finish line, there were 213 green-flag passes around the entire race track earlier this month at Talladega Superspeedway - the second most in a race since 2005.

"We're always pushing," Buck said. "We have the resources to make it better. The product of that is on the track. It's very complex, but the drivers like it."

NASCAR finally has the stats - and battered race cars - to prove it.