Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin and other NASCAR personalities have shared their approval after NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell announced a new stage break procedure ahead of this weekend.
Under the new procedure, a caution that happens within 10 laps of the end of a stage will count as the stage break. NASCAR will no longer run extra caution laps, end the stage, and then start another caution period for pit stops, with the new rule taking effect for all three national series at Iowa Speedway.
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Hamlin had criticized the long stage break cautions earlier in the season. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver reacted to O’Donnell’s announcement video on X with a GIF.
O’Donnell explained in the video that NASCAR reviewed the late-stage cautions that created long stretches without green-flag racing at Indianapolis and repeated fan complaints to come up with the rule change.
Martin shared his appreciation to NASCAR for making the change. He wrote:
“Thank you Steve O’Donnell and [NASCAR] 🙌🏼”
JR Motorsports owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. also shared his thoughts on the update.
“It’s unnecessary, fans have asked for a change, I think teams, drivers, broadcasters, everybody’s wanted something to change there. I’ve never really known why they wouldn’t make a change, but we’re finally gonna do it,” he said.
“This should really help move things along. They are still working on how they can shorten up standard traditional cautions. So we’re not done, and I’m sure there’s gonna be some things that’ll come in the many, many months down the road leading into next season, where we’ll get better at trying to speed up that process. But this is a great move for NASCAR.”
Brad Keselowski also dropped a three-word reaction to the announcement on social media.
“Continue giving us your feedback” – NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell promises to continue listening to fans
Steve O’Donnell thanked NASCAR fans for sharing their opinions. In the announcement video, he said:
“It’s not going to be perfect, but we’re going to learn from this and continue to innovate. So thank you, continue your passion, continue giving us your feedback, and I look forward to seeing you at the race this weekend.”
The new rule to reduce caution periods will debut at 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway.
Any caution within the final 10 laps of a stage will end that stage. The leader will receive the green-and-white checkered flag at the start/finish line while the field remains under caution and NASCAR will decide the top 10 stage finishers using scoring data and video review.
Edited by Palak Gupta