Cautions on the rise in this day of a safer NASCAR

Back in 1972, the winner of any given NASCAR race didn't necessarily win a whole lot of money -- by today's standards, anyway. But when he won, he usually won big.

At the dawn of NASCAR's modern era, races were often exercises in the comprehensive obliteration of the field for the winner. For that 1972 season, there was an average of 1.87 cars on the lead lap at the conclusion of the race. Of all the races that year, the highest number of cars on the lead lap when the checkers flew was four.

• Send Tom your thoughts

To give you an idea of how badly the winner usually spanked the field back then, the fifth-place finisher came home an average of 11.5 laps down.

Things were different in NASCAR then.

Or should I say everything was different in NASCAR then.

A very select few teams had their acts together to compete solidly for wins week in and week out. The talent pool of highly skilled mechanics and engineers was knee deep at best. Many teams sourced parts from their local junk yards. Tire technology was in its adolescent stage.

The cars were big, heavy, hard to drive and crazily unsafe. But boy they were fast. And the men who drove them were honest-to-God heroes among men who stuck their necks way out in an effort to win. When you can, watch those big early 70s cars in lurid, power-on, four-wheel drifts at places like Talladega and Darlington. It's hard to believe they'd do that for 500 miles, and live.

Motorsports was a very dangerous business then, and the drive for increased safety was barely underway. Oil on the track? Drive a different line. Cars spinning in a huge cloud of smoke? You can slow down if you want, but if that guy behind you barrels by and beats you to the start / finish line, well, tough luck for you.

Caution flags were used sparingly in 1972. All season long, NASCAR flew 133 yellow flags and averaged about 4 per race. There has been a steady climb in that number ever since.

So far in 2007, we're averaging around 9.5 caution flags per race. Why such a high number?

"Safety is our primary concern," said Kerry Tharp, NASCAR's director of communications. "The days of two or three people officiating a race are over. (Continued)