For the first time in a much longer time than you'd expect from a NASCAR fanbase that tends to be very traditionalist, stage racing has come under recent scrutiny, largely thanks to critical comments made by two-time and reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson.
Even with the benefit that stage points have provided him throughout the first six races of the 10-race Chase postseason, making his lead a 49-point lead rather than a 27-point lead, Larson did not pull any punches when referring to stage points as "little participation awards".
He specifically noted their oversized impact on the standings, particularly in the playoffs, and the fact that no other major series awards points to drivers based on where they are running in the middle of a race, much less to the extent where a race winner might not finish as the top scorer (even after NASCAR boosted the value of wins).
Larson's comments are specifically timely because of the fact that NASCAR is in its first season back utilizing the old Chase postseason format, after 12 years of running the much-maligned "win and in", knockout-style setup featuring four rounds, including a winner-take-all Championship 4.
New NASCAR Chase format comes with a very quiet (and possibly accidental) rule change
For as much criticism as that format got, one thing NASCAR did right was eliminate stage points for the four championship contenders in the Championship 4. They knew as well as anybody that race result, not the running order at lap 85 or whatever random lap they decided on out of 312, should determine the champion.
But under the Chase format, stage points now count for all drivers in all postseason races, which only further proves Larson's point, because this is technically the first year in NASCAR history in which that's true.
Perhaps moving forward NASCAR can revisit the impact of stage racing, particularly in the playoffs. Yes, you hate to see a driver have a strong race and then lose an engine at the end, but as they say in literally every other serious form of motorsport, that's racing. A race is X number of miles for a reason.
Carl Edwards tried to warn NASCAR about the gimmicky nature of stage racing back in 2012, and what he said holds true today. When you split a race into three stages, and award points after all three, it's no longer, for example, a single 400-mile race. It becomes two 100-mile races and a 200-mile race. That's the reality.
Given the fact that stage points were not counted for the championship contenders during the Championship 4 season finales over the years, it's not hard to believe that NASCAR knows Larson's comment about the oversized impact of stages to be completely true. Even they didn't want stage results to play a role in the championship outcome.
The question is whether or not they'll do anything about it in future seasons.
Perhaps stage racing has a place in NASCAR. But when it comes to the 10-race Chase, the 10 races that ultimately decide the championship, NASCAR should go back to what they did in the Championship 4: race results, and race results alone, are what matter. Period.
Not, for instance, moving up from eight to seventh place on lap 80 because a non-playoff contender decided to make an early pit stop.
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