The Next Gen car has produced some close, action-packed competition. Looking at the racing at the front of the field, with the exception of Richmond, every race (i.e. all but one of the NASCAR Cup Series 12 races thus far) has had a tighter gap between the car leading the race and the car running in second – not just at the checkered flag, but throughout the entire race. In fact, the Median Time Differential Between 1st and 2nd in 2022 is just half of what it was in the previous five-year average of races at these same tracks (0.6 seconds vs. 1.2 seconds).
Not only are the competitors much tighter throughout an event, but it’s never been closer at the finishes too. The average Margin of Victory of the first 12 races of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season is 0.420-second, the closest average Margin of Victory through the first 12 races of a season since advent of electronic scoring in 1993. The next closest margin of victory was 2014 with 0.651-second. Plus, the first 12 races of the 2022 season have produced a Cup Series record of 10 races concluding with a Margin of Victory of less than a second.
On top of all that, the level of competition at the front of the pack has been raised as well. The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season has produced 637 green flag passes for the lead; the series-most through the first 12 races of a season since the Loop Data statistic was initially tabulated in 2007 (the last 16 seasons).
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