NASCAR’s recent decision regarding stage breaks at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval race has ignited a firestorm of debate within the stock car community. Before the start of the 2023 NASCAR season, a significant change to stage racing was unveiled. While road and street course races would still feature three stages. There would no longer be planned stage breaks or cautions at the end of the first two stages.

They implemented this change at several venues throughout the season, including Circuit of The Americas, Sonoma Raceway, the Chicago Street Course, Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, and Watkins Glen International. However, the decision to reintroduce stage breaks at the Roval has left many scratching their heads and questioning the consistency of NASCAR’s rule changes.

Elton Sawyer explains why NASCAR decided to reintroduce stage cautions at Charlotte Roval

Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, shed light on the decision during a recent interview on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Sawyer explained, “I’m sure the question from our fans and even our competitors is, why do that now? Well, one reason is that we want to make sure that throughout the playoffs, in the 10-race Cup Series playoffs, we were officiating across the board the same way. So, now we will be. All of our races will have caution stage breaks that include the Roval.”

While the desire for consistency in officiating across the playoffs makes sense. It raises questions about why the change wasn’t implemented earlier in the season. None of the five previous road and street course races featured stage breaks, making the sudden shift for the Roval race somewhat inconsistent with the year’s prior decisions.

Sawyer also noted that recent road course races had revealed areas for improvement in terms of on-track action and strategy, which played a role in the decision to reintroduce stage breaks. He emphasized, “Probably the most important part of this decision-making was, if you look back at our five previous road course races, although they were competitive, there were some that felt like there were some things we could do differently – obviously going back to the caution stage breaks – that would make our races better.”

While improving the quality of races is a worthy goal, the decision to revert to stage breaks in the middle of the playoffs has sparked debates and raised questions about NASCAR’s approach to rule changes. And it was evident after fans brutally dismissed Roval and asked for a switch back to the Oval.

Stock Car Racing fans demand that the racing at Charlotte should only take place on the oval

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Following the Roval race, Bob Pockrass from Fox Sports reached out to fans for their opinions on whether NASCAR should stick with the Roval or return to the traditional Charlotte Oval. The response was overwhelming, with fans passionately advocating for the return to the Oval track.

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Fans took to the comments section of Bob’s video and rallied against racing on the Roval. One fan brutally wrote, “Oval!!!! Get rid of the roval Bs.” Another pointed out that the race was boring, “Boring boring boring go back to the oval.” One fan demanded NASCAR to improve the cars if they want to race the Roval, “Oval. This next-gen car shines on mile and a half tracks! Unfortunately, it’s not as good racing everywhere else. Either change the package for better racing or change the track back to the oval!!”

There was one fan who asked to switch to Roval and ban the stage breaks as well, “Oval and no more stage racing.” Another mentioned that he was happy for AJ Allmendinger but the race was boring, “Oval.. glad AJ won but that race was not very fun to watch.. boring.”

The passion and engagement of the fans will continue to be a driving force in the sport’s evolution. The future direction of the Charlotte Motor Speedway remains uncertain. But the voices of the fans will undoubtedly play a significant role in shaping NASCAR’s decisions moving forward.

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