Report states NASCAR crashes down in 2006
SCENEDAILY - 1:35PM ET THURSDAY DECEMBER 14, 2006 -


J.J. Yeley, Joe Nemechek, Ryan Newman, Casey Mears and Robby Gordon were involved in the most accidents in NASCAR Nextel Cup races in 2006, USA Today reported Thursday in its annual look at on-track incidents in the series.

Yeley, a rookie with Joe Gibbs Racing, led the accident-prone with 17 crashes, while MB2 Motorsports veteran Nemechek was second with 16.


Overall, the newspaper notes that crashes and spins dropped from 253 in 2005 to 237 this season.

The newspaper found that of the five drivers with the lowest accident rate in at least 30 starts, four made the Chase For The Nextel Cup.

Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick tied for the series-low accident rate with a 13.9 percent crash rating (five wrecks in 36 races). Jimmie Johnson tied for third with 16.7 percent and Matt Kenseth tied for sixth with a 19.4 percent. Rookie Denny Hamlin tied Johnson as did Dave Blaney, who did not make the Chase.

Tony Stewart, who had the second-lowest crash rate in 2005, suffered a change of fortune in 2006 when he wrecked eight times in 36 races and missed the Chase field by 16 points. [/B]

That's such an improvement over Kasey's super high rate last year.

And it's proof that there is something to that nickname of "Crash Yeley" that I so fondly use.

I posted Kasey's highlights in the Great Season Thread, with his last season numbers, too. It's incredible the improvement he's made.

Poor JJ. I hope he manages to keep it off the wall next season.

JJ had some rotten luck this season. He will do better next year! :)

That's great about Kasey

That just makes me so happy!

Great article and yay for Kasey having one of the lowest percentages of wrecks. :)

I knew I wasn't wrong calling JJ Crash. :lmbo

Well, it was his rookie year. I hope things get better for him.

JJ had a shitty season and I'm really hoping that his bad luck has ran out and his luck changes for next season. I think he's a really talented driver, he just had a bad string of bad luck.

I somewhat tend to think that JJ's problem in some races might have been similar to Kasey's mentality last season -- coming from the Sprint car background, he's always thinking "go" when he could practice a little patience. I think JJ is a really talented driver, and he's a great guy, too -- so I would LOVE to see him succeed. :)

I think its a mentality that all sprint car drivers have coming in and they have to learn to adjust

Wow its amazing to see how well Kasey did with that this year compared to last year. His racing has really matured and its showing. Congrats to Kasey for doing so well :clap

That's great for Kasey!

I agree with you... I saw similarities in their mentality (Kasey's '05 Vs. JJ's '06) although I also think too that JJ also found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time... cause he did get stuck is someone elses mess a couple of times this year.

I really hope JJ can turn his luck around this year... I really like him...

Well there's no way a single driver can wreck himself that many times -- he's gotta get caught up in something not of his making every once in a while. :hehe

I adore JJ. He's got quality equipment, so I'm sure we'll see lots of success next season. :)

great news for Kasey, not so great for jj.

but yeah besides the winning the lower wreck count is def the next biggest thing about Kasey's season this year I love.

:nod

My fiance and his dad no longer had anything to tease me about.

'04 and '05 it was "the wall" this and "the wall" that.

'06 was zen.