BLOG: At Spring Break, NASCAR Competition is Up!

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has just completed its own version of spring break and with the traditional Easter weekend hiatus in the rear-view, it's time to review the first eight races of the season.

What's going on is parity. Seven winners in the first seven races and only one repeater, Kevin Harvick, at Darlington last time out have started the season with a real sense of suspense.

How many different pole winners have there been in eight races? Eight. That's tied the record for different pole winners to start the season.

Here are some more numbers that will drive home the point that competition is better than ever.

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.

Total of 29,541 green flag passes, compared to 23,178 in 2013.

Total of 346 green flag passes for the lead, compared to 181 in 2013.

And...an average margin of victory of 0.588 seconds, the smallest since 2008.