Everyone, even champion Joey Logano, struggled with the Next Gen car. More experience wasn’t better. Less-experienced drivers made larger gains in rank and top-10 finishes.
NASCAR’s elimination playoff format means that the driver with the best statistics — arguably the “best driver of 2022" — doesn’t always win the championship.
Cautions were up in 2022 despite fewer stage-end and competition cautions of any year since stage racing began. A look at the causes (and causers) of cautions.
The champion has been crowned and the desert wind has swept away the last bit of confetti from victory lane. That means it’s time to look back at the 2022 season. I’ll start with a broad overview of who raced, when they raced and where they raced. In the coming weeks, I’ll delve deeper into topics like penalties, accidents and loop data stats. That analysis will focus on comparing drivers, but also comparing the Next Gen car’s performance against the previous car.
Ross Chastain and Christopher Bell are making their first appearances in the Championship 4. Both powered their way in: Bell by taking the checkered flag in two win-or-be-eliminated races and Chastain with an odds-defying video-game move at Martinsville.
Stage points could decide who advances to the title race. The Next Gen car has allowed more drivers to win stages, but it’s harder to earn as many points.
Even without equipment failures and crashes, the first round of playoff performances defied predictions. Dr. Diandra reveals which drivers over performed and which under performed — and why the rankings going into Texas don’t really reflect that.
Drivers claim passing is too difficult in the Next Gen car, but loop data stats show passing up 55%. Dr. Diandra delves into who’s right, and what loop data can really tell us about passing.
