NASCAR: Are 40 cars too many at short track races?

Last weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series had 38 entries for the STP 500 at Martinsville. Were there too many cars on the track?

One of the best aspects to NASCAR short track racing is the amount of bumping and banging we get to see at the track on race day. However, this past weekend at Martinsville, there were 38 cars on the track. Of those 38 cars, only 14 of them finished the race on the lead lap. This means 24 cars were running toward the end of the race at least one lap down and in the way of the faster cars.

It’s certainly possible that limiting the number of cars on the track could make the racing boring. There would be less passing and maneuvering through traffic. However, the best drivers wouldn’t be slowed down by cars well off the pace if there were fewer cars on the track.

Toward the end of the race on Monday, both Harrison Rhodes and Jamie McMurray had issues and barely made it back to pit road. Had either of those drivers brought out the caution flag, Clint Bowyer may not have won the race. The field would have been re-stacked for overtime and a hungry Kyle Busch would have been next to Bowyer for the restart.

All things considered, the short tracks provide some of the best racing we see throughout the season, so why change them? On the other hand, would the racing be better if fewer cars were on the track? I would say yes based on the fact that there would be more room and fewer lapped cars for the leaders to have to work around.

My idea for short tracks

The last thing I would want to see happen is drivers not being able to compete on a race weekend. What if NASCAR were to use the stages to eliminate the cars slowing down the field? This plan would have each stage be similar to a “heat” race where you have to be ahead of the cut-off line before the stage ends.

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Since Martinsville was the most recent track at which the NASCAR Cup Series competed, I will use that to break down the idea. For starters, the first stage would be 130 laps, the same length as the second stage, and the final stage of the race would be 240 laps.

After the first stage, the bottom 10 drivers would be eliminated. The same concept would apply after the second stage, bringing us to 20 drivers who would compete in the final stage. NASCAR could even give all of the laps back to teams after each stage.

With this idea, there is less of a chance for drivers to get caught up in lapped traffic or lose races because of drivers who are several laps behind crashing and bringing out late race caution flags.

This idea could apply to Martinsville, Bristol, New Hampshire, Dover and maybe a few other tracks during the season. The idea isn’t perfect and may hurt teams trying to attract sponsors. However, it could increase the excitement and bring more sponsors to the sport when stage endings have even more of a meaning to them.

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Do you feel that there are too many cars racing during short track races? Do you think cars should be eliminated after the stages are over, or do you have other ideas for how lapped cars should be handled during a race?