NASCAR implements stage format: What they’re writing – Nascar

RELATED: Race format creates playoff-point incentives | Drivers react

NASCAR announced Monday competition format enhancements in all three of its national series — the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. 

NASCAR Chairman & CEO Brian France and NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell delivered the news via press conference alongside drivers Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin.

With the new format, there will be three stages per race, providing emphasis on aggressive racing and strategy. The winner of the first two stages of each race will receive one playoff point, and the race winner will receive five playoff points. Each playoff point will be added to a driver’s reset total following the 26th race, if that competitor makes the playoffs.

MORE: Fast facts about the new format

Following the announcement, racing professionals and fans alike had much to talk about.

See what NASCAR writers and broadcasters had to say about the sport’s next phase:

Tom Jensen, FOX Sports: “The reasoning behind NASCAR’s new stage-based race format is pretty basic: Improving competition is a bigger priority than simplifying the math is. … Last year, if a driver won the Daytona 500, all they had to do for the next 25 races was stay in the top 30 in points and they were all but guaranteed to make the playoffs, so some of them cruised during the summer. With playoff points awarded in every stage of every race now, there will be considerable incentive to race hard all the time.” | Read more

Bob Pockrass, ESPN: “Among the biggest impacts will be the importance of qualifying, since that first stage will be approximately the first quarter of the race.” | Read more

Lee Spencer, Motorsport.com: “Although the new format was a collaboration among the sport’s shareholders, clearly, NASCAR considered the fans’ sentiments when incorporating some of the hot button topics into the new format. … And for fans that appreciate the influence of pit crew performance, having the field set for segments two and three by pit stops will place more emphasis on the men going over the wall.” | Read more

Brant James, USA Today: “NASCAR as an industry, after half a year of consultation with drivers, its fan council and social media’s temperament, implored its fan base to just give it a taste Monday, unveiling a system that it claims will give incentive for more dogged racing throughout the regular season. … This was a risk worth taking.” | Read more