Harvick’s Las Vegas triumph an argument for stage racing, not against it

The Pennzoil 400 wasn’t necessarily the most exciting NASCAR race ever, but it likely would have even less interesting to watch without stage racing.

Along with the championship-deciding playoffs formerly known as the Chase, no NASCAR rules change in recent years has been as big a talking point as stage racing. Some fans love it, many definitely seem not too crazy about it, and still others are okay with it in principle but wonder whether it’s having a desirable effect on the on-track product.

Dave Caldwell of Forbes is one person who clearly feels it is not. Today, Caldwell argued for the elimination of stage racing in a well-written and thoughtful column, decrying how the breaks at the end of stages are excuses for NASCAR to cram more ads into its broadcasts and make the races longer in general. Though cynical, it’s hard not to concede the first point, because race broadcasts already have commercials jammed into every possible nook and cranny — though other sports leagues do the same, as any NFL fan would admit when talking about the cringe-worthy “touchdown, commercial, kickoff, commercial” sequences we get every season.

Race length is largely a matter of personal preference. NASCAR races have always been on the long side for major sporting events, and being able to out-drive the opposition over long distances is part of their charm. Many race fans are traditionalists, and while stage racing is anything but, it would seem to me that any action to artificially shorten the length of races would also be frowned upon by a large portion of the fan base.

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(As a side note, as a fan who attends several races a year in person with my son, the stage-ending cautions provide natural breaks in the action to hit the bathroom or concession stand without fear of missing anything or wondering how long it will be until the next yellow flag. Even more than playoffs, that was something worth borrowing from stick and ball sports.)

But where I really disagree with Caldwell is in his use of this past weekend’s Pennzoil 400, won going away by Kevin Harvick, as evidence to back up his stance. He says that Harvick was unfairly penalized by stage racing, as he had to work his way back to the front after falling a few spots during the yellow flag pit stops after both stages.

"Harvick’s job Sunday was much harder than it had to be, or should have been. After winning the second 80-lap stage by at least three seconds, he fell into fourth place after the required round of pit stops and had to work through traffic to the front."

That’s true. However, the Pennzoil 400 was boring almost to the point of being unwatchable for long stretches because Harvick’s car was so good. It also featured very few cautions for wrecks or incidents, meaning that without the stage cautions, the 4 would have spent even more time lapping the field. Only a dozen cars finished on the lead lap as it was; without the stage-ending yellows, we’re talking about at least two less who get a free pass and probably even more drivers getting lapped. Maybe it would have been exciting to see Harvick, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr. and like two other guys as the only lead lap cars, but I’m not convinced.

NASCAR goes to great pains to emphasize the team aspect of its races, and stage racing adds to that element. Maybe Harvick’s pit crew wasn’t as fast as others, or competitors were able to gain spots on pit road by trying different tire strategies. That’s part of the sport, and the fact that the 4 team was able to overcome all of it means they were more deserving, not less.

Next: NASCAR Cup Series standings after Las Vegas

To top it off, Harvick won both stages and the race, becoming only the second Cup Series driver to do so since stages were introduced at the beginning of the 2017 season. Because he earned all the possible points from Las Vegas, he was justly rewarded by shooting to the top of the points standings, while also banking valuable extra playoff points for the postseason he’s now virtually locked into. Shouldn’t someone who’s been so far ahead of everyone else be justly rewarded in that fashion?

The jury is still out on stage racing on the whole, and maybe NASCAR will eventually decide it was an experiment that wasn’t worth it. I just shudder to think what this week’s race in Las Vegas would have been like without it, and I’ll gladly take a few more mid-race cautions if it means less stretches of long green flag runs with no passes for the lead.