Probably more a result of the smaller rear spoiler, and the large number of inexperienced drivers. NASCAR is in flux, with Cup drivers leaving and Xfinity drivers moving up. Add to that the limitations on Cup drivers in Xfinity races, and you have more Xfinity teams bringing on new drivers.

No, I don't like the new rules with "stages" either, but on the plus side, it worked to the advantage of Elliot Sadler. Under the old rules, all of his early success would have been entirely for naught, would have left him 20th or so in the standings, because some idiot wrecked him with a dozen laps to go in the race. Under the new rules he got 20 points for winning the first two stages, 33 overall, and is third in the standings.

"After all, cautions breed cautions, when the cars get bunched up and every driver tries to get as many positions as quickly as possible before the cars spread out."

At Daytona and Talledega the cars never spread out. They are as close thirty laps after a restart as they were after the first lap after a restart.

There's no need for the caution at the end of the stages. Award the points but leave the cars at race speed. Cars do spread out at restrictor plate races. It's not uncommon for the cars to go single file at the front, and the field stretches out. What bunches the cars up are the cautions, which are going to happen anyway. Having artificial cautions takes away the need for the crew chiefs to take risks as when to pit, when you always know there's a caution within the fuel window.

Which also cuts down on guys getting caught one lap down when one of the field cars decides to try turning right instead of left. By throwing two cautions, most of that goes away.