Stage racing is now in its 10th NASCAR season (and thus its 10th playoffs/postseason), and while it has always been viewed as somewhat gimmicky, it has largely escaped facing the same level of criticism faced by the old "win and in", knockout-style playoff format that was used from 2014 to 2025.
But recent critical comments from two-time and reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson put stage racing in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, and those remarks are particularly notable since Larson himself has actually benefitted greatly from stage points throughout the first six races of a postseason he has dominated thus far.
Larson referred to stage points as "little participation awards", noting that no other major racing series gives points to drivers based on where they are running at some random lap in the middle of a race. He emphasized their oversized impact on crowning a champion, even though, again, he has been the main beneficiary thus far.
While the purpose is to award drivers who have strong races, even if they don't finish well, the simple reality of it is that a late wreck or a late DNF or late misfortune of any kind boils down to one inescapable truth that exists in all forms of motorsport: that's racing.
NASCAR, however, doesn't see it that way, and even with the recent points boost for race winners, a race winner is not guaranteed to lead a race in total points scored, and the driver who finishes 22nd can technically score the second-most points among all drivers.
Why is this particularly significant now? Because of the old "win and in" format, ironically.
NASCAR has always utilized stage points during both the regular season and the postseason, ever since stage racing was added back in 2017. But in the Championship 4 era, stage points were not awarded to the four remaining championship contenders in the season finale. The highest finisher of the four was crowned champion, period.
Imagine that. It's almost like NASCAR knows that race result should be what matters when crowning a champion, rather than who was running in the top 10 on lap 85 of 312 simply because a few faster guys decided to pit.
When NASCAR ditched "win and in", they went back to a simple 10-race championship setup, like the one originally used from 2004 to 2013. What we have now is effectively a 10-race Championship 16, in some sense, rather than a one-race Championship 4.
Yet stage points count for all championship contenders in every single postseason race.
This is one thing that the old format got right: stage points never truly had a direct impact the championship. Now they do.
Sure, running in the top 10 on some random lap in a mid-March race could have technically affected the regular season standings and thus the playoff bonus points, which could have, in turn, affected the outcome of the championship. That's still true in 2026.
But that's about as indirect as it gets.
Did the old winner-take-all Championship 4 format have its flaws? I think we all know the answer to that question. But the fact that NASCAR did not award stage points to the championship contenders in that race shows that even they're well aware that Larson is 100% correct to call stage points what they are: little participation awards.
And it's a shame those silly awards are now awarded throughout the entire championship battle under the new playoff format. Because now, yes, running 10th instead of 11th, one-third of the way into a race that happens two months before the season finale, could effectively determine who is crowned champion.
Race number seven on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series postseason schedule is the Freeway Insurance 500, which is set to be shown live on USA Network from Phoenix Raceway starting at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 18. Don't miss any of the action from Avondale, Arizona in the track's first non-season finale postseason race since 2019!
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