NASCAR Stage Racing: Pros and Cons

Pro – Reduces the frequency of dominant wins

Due to the caution periods that take place after the end of the first two stages, this packs the field up for a restart before the next stage begins. So if a driver has a huge lead, that lead gets diminished at the end of every stage, essentially giving a large percentage of the field a decent chance to get to the front that they otherwise would not have had.

Some people may argue that this is actually a con of stage racing, as if a driver is dominant, they should be allowed to be dominant en route to winning a race. However, stage racing doesn’t eliminate the ability for drivers to be dominant; it simply makes them work harder for it, and it makes them do so with additional strategy involved, as discussed in the first pro slide.

So if a driver is truly dominant, being dominant in the stage racing format actually solidifies their dominance while making things much more interesting as well.

Because of stage racing, you know for a fact that there will be multiple drivers in contention for the win near the end of the race, which is when things really start to matter not only in races but in all sporting events as well. Stage racing essentially guarantees this, and because there are there stages, it almost guarantees a competitive race up until the end as well.