The Cup Series has seen a 72.7% increase in number of cautions for accidents and spins in races this season compared to last year through the first 15 events.
There have been so many cautions this year that six races (40%) saw the winner not need to make a green flag pit stop. That includes the Coca-Cola 600, which had 18 cautions — 14 for accidents and spins — after having four cautions (one for an incident) last year.
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[Brad] Keselowski said it is better to have more practice.
Practice was reduced as a cost-saving move for teams. With so little practice most weekends, teams don‘t have to have a fully prepared backup car. Some multi-car organizations do not bring a backup car for each of their teams.
That has created the reliance on simulation tools for teams to be fast immediately.
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Corey LaJoie, who crashed in practice before the Coca-Cola 600 and crashed a backup in the race after left rear tire failures, said he doesn‘t think more practice time is best.
“If we had more practice, I could have popped another one in practice,” he said last weekend. “Obviously, whatever we had at Charlotte wasn‘t the hot ticket.
See much more at NBC Sports.
