NASCAR introduced stage racing across its top three series this season. Some fans like it, while some don’t. What are some of the pros and cons of stage racing?
Stage racing was introduced across NASCAR’s three biggest series, the Cup Series, the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series, before the start of the 2017 season. It essentially breaks each race into three* stages, with the first two stages being of equal length and the third and final stage being the longest stage.
Many fans, especially some of the old-timers, have been extremely critical of stage racing, and many of those fans and other fans have left the sport because of it. And if they haven’t left, they have at the very least voiced their beliefs that stage racing has been the cause of a lot of fans leaving.
However, the reception of stage racing has certainly not been all bad. Many fans and drivers enjoy the added layers of strategy it injects into the racing itself and how it tends to inevitably cause each race, including its outcome, to be more interesting.
Here are a few of the pros and cons of NASCAR stage racing. We’ll start off with a pro.
*=Coca-Cola 600 was broken into four stages of equal length, not three with two of the three being of equal length
Pro – Added strategy
As mentioned in the first slide of this article, stage racing means that races are broken up into stages, with a caution flag period ending every stage before the next stage beings.
The number one thing that this affects is strategy, namely pit strategy, as drivers need to decide whether to sacrifice a good result in the current stage just to pit early in order to gain positions at the start of the next stage or to secure a good result in the current stage and get the points that come along with it while sacrificing a few positions to begin the next stage, all while factoring in the long-term effects of their decision that will show up toward the end of the race.
As you can tell just by reading that last paragraph, this has made, makes and will continue to make things very interesting during NASCAR races.
Many fans might argue that the added strategy is a con of stage racing, as planned cautions take away from what a race is supposed to be in a way. However, every driver and team knows about the stage lengths and when the caution flags are coming out going into every race, so no one has an unfair advantage and teams are forced to strategize appropriately to try to take advantage of those caution flag periods, particularly with their pit strategy.
Con – Replacement for phantom debris cautions?
May people may argue that this is actually a pro of stage racing, as NASCAR has been known to throw “phantom” debris cautions over the years, but with the caution flag periods that come at the end of each stage, all of the drivers and teams know when they are coming and can plan for them in advance, so nobody gets an unfair advantage.
However, the fact is, there are inevitable cautions flag periods that come at the end of each stage, and they are caused by nothing to do with an actual wreck, which is essentially what those “phantom” debris cautions were. The only difference is that these cautions flag periods that come at the end of each stage are planned, so everyone knows about them in advance.
The wreck that took out Carl Edwards (see image), who was on his way to winning his first career Cup Series championship, took place on a restart from a “phantom” debris caution flag period at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Here is a video of that wreck.
Whether it’s a “phantom” debris caution or a stage-ending caution, the fact is, a caution flag is essentially coming out for a reason that has nothing to do with an actual wreck, and a restart ensues, which could cause a huge wreck like we saw last year at Homestead.
We could very well see another Carl Edwards-like wreck, if not more than one, before the first playoffs featuring stage racing come to an end. And those wrecks could play a huge role in determining the outcome of this year’s championship.
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.
Con – Effect on the driver standings and playoff points
Again, like the other three pros and cons discussed thus far in this article, you could make the case that stage racing’s effect on the driver standings and playoff points and such is a good thing, as it rewards drivers who do well throughout the race with points that do toward their standings total and, if they win a stage or two, a playoff point or points.
However, in what sport do teams get rewarded for being ahead at halftime?
Now, I know NASCAR isn’t basketball or football, and I know that no one wants it to be. However, it seems pretty universal that the winners of games and races should be rewarded more so than the those who don’t win.
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With stage racing, that isn’t always the case. Race winners get 40 points, while 2nd place finishers get 35. That total decreases by 1 point for each position from 3rd place finishers down to 36th place finishers, with 36th place finishers and lower getting just 1 point.
But stage winners get 10 points, a total that decreases by 1 point all the way down through the 10th place finishers, who get 1 point.
So you could essentially have a driver that wins both stages but only finishes in 16th place in the race end up with more points than a race winner who didn’t finish in the top 10 in either stage. The 16th place finisher would end up with 41 points, while the winner would end up with just 40.
Now, the winner would end up with 5 playoff points, while the 16th place finisher would end up with just 2, which is good. However, those 2 playoff points are still a lot, especially seeing as how no other driver aside of the winner gets any.
None of that really makes sense, and this can really affect the drivers standings and playoff points and make some drivers look better than they actually are and make some drivers look worse than they actually are.
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Stage racing has been, is and will continue to be debated. There is no doubt that there are both pros and cons to stage racing.