NASCAR announces stage breaks returning to road courses at Charlotte Roval

NASCAR has announced stage cautions are returning to road course races, beginning with the Charlotte Roval on Oct. 8.

Previously, NASCAR decided to do away with stage cautions at road courses, believing it unnecessarily stifled the action. However, some believe it took away from the strategy of the races, and they’ll be returning next month.

NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer announced the decision on Tuesday, during his regular weekly appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. NASCAR followed it up with a press release of their own.

“NASCAR competition officials announced procedural changes Tuesday for the last remaining road course on the 2023 schedule, reinstating caution periods at the end of each stage,” the press release read. “Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, revealed the format shift Tuesday during his regular weekly appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The changes are set to go into effect for the Bank of America Roval 400, scheduled Oct. 8 on the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.

“Competition officials had updated rules before the season to eliminate stage breaks for road-course events. The move was made in collaboration with teams and fan feedback, with Sawyer saying that the intermissions ‘took an element of strategy away from the event.’ Sawyer also noted the desire to officiate all 10 Playoffs races consistently – with each race having stage-break cautions.”

Additionally, that’s not the only change coming to the Roval, as Sawyer noted the restart zone will be moved for the event as well.

“Sawyer also said the restart zone for the Charlotte road course race will be moved to the final chicane before the start/finish line on the 2.32-mile layout,” added NASCAR. “In the previous five Roval events, the initial start and restarts fired off from a portion of the oval track that’s used as a run-off area on all other laps.

“The move follows similar procedure updates at two other road courses this year, with starts and restarts occurring before a turn and not on a straightaway. The restart zone was placed before the final turn for the inaugural Chicago Street Race and was moved to the final chicane at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road-course configuration.”

Alas, it’ll be fascinating to see the effect the decision has on the racing at the Roval in October. With the race taking place in the Playoffs, it always has gigantic implications, and that should be no different when NASCAR returns to Charlotte in a couple of weeks.