Daytona Truck Series race suggests NASCAR drivers will race hard for stage points

Small sample size, for sure, but the Daytona Truck Series race provided evidence that drivers will go hard for stage wins.

If NASCAR wanted its new system of offering championship points for stage wins to provide extra mid-race excitement, consider its first test to be a smashing success. No pun intended.

Friday night’s Camping World Truck Series race from Daytona International Speedway was the first race to give points for a stage win. Veteran Johnny Sauter took the first 10 points (and one playoff point) by crossing the start/finish line first on lap 20.

But it was what got him to that point that raised eyebrows, considering Sauter wasn’t in front as the stage wound down.

It was Christopher Bell and Brent Moffitt who were battling side by side for the lead heading back toward the new green and white flag. Then this happened:

Sure, Bell and Moffitt got hit from behind, and the Truck Series is known for being a little more (sometimes a lot more) of a crap shoot when it comes to drivers running into each other. The takeaway, though, is that drivers do care about the extra points for stage victories and will run a lot harder than usual on lap 20 or 40 because of them.

As evidenced by the responses to that NASCAR tweet above, fans aren’t exactly unanimous when it comes to the stage concept. It definitely slows things down to have two extra guaranteed cautions per race, and it does seem silly to count the stage-ending caution laps toward the next stage. Indeed the second stage of the Daytona truck race was only 16 laps.

Next: Dale Earnhardt Jr. faces critical 2017 season

What can’t be argued, though, is that the very first stage in the new NASCAR system provided some high drama only 20 percent of the way through a race. Except for the two drivers who wrecked, it’s hard for anyone to upset about that.