Gen 6 cars show their stuff at Vegas

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 10: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota, and Kasey Kahne, driver of the #5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 10, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 10:  Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota, and Kasey Kahne, driver of the #5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 10, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 10: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, and Kasey Kahne, driver of the #5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 10, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)

NASCAR’s new Gen-6 Sprint Cup race car racked up some impressive statistics in Sunday’s race at Las Vegas.

The official race reports reads 22 lead changes among eight drivers, with the 22 lead changes being the most at Las Vegas since 2007, the year before the Gen-5 car (Car of Tomorrow) was introduced at intermediate race tracks.

Beyond those numbers, NASCAR’s loop data (stats measured at the 10 scoring loops around the 1.5-mile track) showed a phenomenal 2,342 green-flag passes throughout the race, compared with 1,301 last year.

In addition, there were 31 green-flag passes for the lead (including intra-lap passes scored at loops other than the finish line), the most since NASCAR started recording loop data in 2005.

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.