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What has gotten into NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers? A week after a record-tying number of cautions at Richmond, the Cup gang had a record-breaking number of cautions at Darlington on Saturday night.

The 17 cautions at Darlington broke the track record of 15 set in March 1995. The 15 cautions at Richmond the week before tied the mark set in May 2003.

And now the series heads to Lowe's Motor Speedway for Saturday night's all-star race, which is known to produce some wild action.

Jimmie Johnson, the 2008 series champion, says the racing has become more aggressive lately.

"If you look at the races that we've had from Talladega to Richmond to Darlington, they're all tough races where there's a lot of side-by-side action and it's easy to raise tempers and have situations develop that upset you," Johnson said.

"Track position ... is everything. You have to fight so hard. You can't just give up positions any more because you'll never get them back. Everybody is fighting extremely hard to keep their spot. Guys trying to pass have to fight that much harder to get by and frustration starts to come up."

Fellow driver Ryan Newman says he's noticed it being "a little more aggressive" on the track.

"The cars lend it to be a little more aggressive," he said. "With the way the bumpers align, it's kind of been, I guess, more physically violent at times. Cars bouncing off each other, a little bit of a bumper-car mentality at times more than there had been in the past. I think that's where part of that comes from."

There have been only five more cautions this season than at the same point last season (after 11 races). Until the Darlington race there had been fewer cautions this season compared with last year.

GOING GREEN: Dover International Speedway is auctioning the chance for a fan to wave the green flag for its Sprint Cup race May 31. Go to auctions.nascar.com and click "Tickets & Experiences" under the categories on the left side of the page. The auction ends Monday. The top bid exceeded $1,000 as of Tuesday.

BETTER TO BURNOUT ... : Seven competitors will take part in the burnout competition before Saturday's all-star race. They are Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne and Darrell Waltrip. A celebrity panel will judge the burnouts, with $10,000 awarded to the winner's favorite charity.

FOR SALE: Geoff Bodine is selling some of his racing memorabilia. Among the items available are his 1986 Daytona 500 trophy, four clocks from wins at Martinsville, along with race uniforms and checkered flags. The sale, which runs Monday through May 22 with an auction on the final day, will be at his race shop at 18605 Northline Drive, Cornelius.

PIT STOPS: Doug Randolph has been hired by Richard Childress Racing as crew chief for the No. 29 Nationwide team. Dan Deeringhoff, who led Clint Bowyer to the 2008 series title, will move to lead Austin Dillon's development program. ... All-star activities begin Thursday night with the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com