Forget NASCAR Stage Racing…What About Sprint Racing?

Stage racing for NASCAR in 2017 has been a mixed bag of reactions from fans, so could another direction help the sport get back to the top?

When the 2017 NASCAR season began, many fans were still left scratching their heads about whether or not they would be fans of stage racing. Now past five races into the Cup Series schedule, many are still wondering if the new direction that stock car racing is taking is truly for them. Questions also remain as to how long management will stay with this format before changing the rules once again.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges for the sport is how new fans will be introduced to racing. For the casual observer of NASCAR, they may not be able to follow along with the points system that is now included with stages. Those who have been long traditionalists of the sport have run away from the idea of awarding points throughout the event, as well as the confusion caused by “playoff points” and how they are carried out.

Is there a way where NASCAR can give their fans more product and more excitement, but with less gimmicky approaches, like stages? By taking a page out of the book of Australia’s V8 Supercars, they could. Replace stage racing with sprint racing and you have a new way to run race weekends.

In the land down under, Supercars often run two races per event weekend at tracks like Adelaide, Mount Panorama, and Sydney. Each race may not be the same length, however, with formats including endurance, sprint, and super sprint lengths. Each race has a separate qualifying session, usually held on the day of the event, following a similar pattern coming to NASCAR this year.

The idea of running two races in the same weekend is not completely foreign to North American racing. IndyCar previously ran many races as doubleheaders, including to this day the Toronto Grand Prix. It could also certainly help with NASCAR’s sagging attendance issue by adding more attractions for race fans.However, on the other side, NASCAR has a very busy schedule already with support series such as the Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series, compared to just one support team for Supercars.

However, on the other side, NASCAR has a very busy schedule already with support series such as the Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series, compared to just one support team for Supercars. Additionally, while attendance could be boosted on some race weekends, new headaches could arise with the television schedule. With a plethora of other programming commitments, FOX and NBC would likely move races around their networks regularly.

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In any case, NASCAR is always working to find formats, rules, and races that work for their fans. Some continue to argue, however, that the sanctioning body needs to take a step back and allow the rules to sit for a year or two, and let the fans play catch up.

What do you think, are you enjoying the stage racing so far in 2017? Would you want to see more format changes in 2018? Comment below with your thoughts.