Competition in Sprint Cup Series is off to a strong start

  

   The first eight races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season certainly have given the impression the season is off to a very competitive start, but there are some statistics from NASCAR's Loop Data, which provide some strong evidence to back up the claim.

   Among them:

   - All three manufacturers have won races thus far, led by Chevrolet's four victories.
   - An average of 12 different leaders per race, compared to 8.6 at this point last year.
   - An average of 25.6 lead changes per race, compared to 17.4 in 2013.
   - A total of 29,541 green flag passes, compared to 23,178 in 2013.
   - A total of 346 green flag passes for the lead, compared to 181 in 2013.
   - An average margin of victory of 0.588 seconds, the smallest since the start of the 2008 season.