That's part and parcel to the lap 2 wreck. People decided to play it safe for the better part of the race after that. Otherwise, Biffle and Roush can eat it
No, even at the end there was no real passing. Pack racing on that surface will not work. The outside line can't do anything if a two-car tandem can't get to the front within a lap of hooking up. And even then they have to move to the bottom or be overtaken again.
Let's just look at the stats for this year's race compared to 2011 and 2010.
2010 - 21 leaders, 52 lead changes, 9 cautions, 40 laps
2011 - 22 leaders, 74 lead changes, 16 cautions, 60 laps
2012 - 13 leaders, 27 lead changes, 10 cautions, 42 laps
2010 and 2012 had similar caution periods. 2010 and 2011 had similar leaders. 2012 had by-far the most lead changes.
Now, this opinion is entirely my own and has no other facts to back it up, but work with me here. The old surface of the track was very bumpy on the inside and slightly less so on the outside, which worked in favor of pack racing and allowed any line to come an go as the race progressed. With the new surface, there are no bumps (or at the very least, very minor ones), so the cars are planted to the track better. Being a flat-out track, the only "fast" way around is at the bottom. But as we saw last year, two-car tandems are as close to the old pre-restrictor-plate days of slingshot drafting we're ever going to see. And before last year, that's what people were screaming for.
2010 results 2011 results 2012 results