{"id":237981,"date":"2025-09-19T03:40:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T03:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/237981\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T03:40:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T03:40:09","slug":"dale-earnhardt-jr-thinks-nascar-should-add-another-stage-at-superspeedway-races-to-make-them-more-meaningful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/237981\/","title":{"rendered":"Dale Earnhardt Jr. Thinks NASCAR Should Add Another Stage At Superspeedway Races to Make Them More Meaningful"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even with all the rumors flying around about a potential change in the NASCAR playoff format as early as next season, on this week\u2019s edition of the Dale Jr. Download podcast<\/a>, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is still staying with the stage format in each race, no matter what.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a caveat that Earnhardt would like NASCAR\u2014and its fans\u2014to consider: Have four stages rather than three at the four superspeedway races on the 36-race Cup schedule, namely both races each at Daytona and Talladega.<\/p>\n

On a recent edition of NASCAR.com\u2019s Hauler Talk podcast<\/a>, when that very topic\u2014adding an extra stage to each of the two superspeedway events\u2014was brought up, fans did not like the idea. But Junior did.<\/p>\n

\u201cFans did not like this idea,\u201d Junior said. \u201cI spoke of this myself on (a previous edition of his Dale Jr. Download). <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were talking about how at the last restricted plate race, we had this first stage where everybody raced like hell. And it\u2019s like, well, if we want to try to get that style of racing the entire time, maybe we take fuel (mileage) out of it all entirely \u2013 or as much as you can\u2014and add a fourth stage. That doesn\u2019t sound so crazy to me because we have a four stage in the (Coca-Cola) 600 and no one cares, right? I\u2019m like, \u2018All right, well, just it\u2019s superspeedway racing.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other thing that I like about it is it adds importance to those two races because there\u2019ll be more points on the line. So the 600 has the extra stage and there\u2019s that opportunity uniquely in that particular weekend where you can gain more points than your traditional race weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earnhardt\u2019s Idea Makes Sense And Could Cut Down On Late-Race \u201cBig Ones\u201d<\/p>\n

Earnhardt\u2019s idea makes sense and has merit. It also cuts down on fuel mileage racing in the final laps, which oftentimes leads to major multi-car wrecks because everyone is trying to get to the finish line before they run out of fuel.<\/p>\n

And more often than not, they fail at that.<\/p>\n

But the more Junior spoke about adding an extra stage to the two Daytona and two Talladega races, the more he sounded convincing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Daytona, I also love Talladega,\u201d he said. \u201dI had a lot of success at both of those racetracks. The racing there over the last several years has taken a beating from critics, myself included, and drivers would even argue that is the Daytona 500 still the most important race of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, everyone wants to win a Daytona 500, but is it the most important race? It\u2019s fallen from that perch. And that is a problem for me. The Daytona 500, for all of my life, has been compared to the Super Bowl of the NFL. It has always been this very important event that everyone did everything they could to try to find a way to win it once.\u201d<\/p>\n

Has the Daytona 500 Really Dipped in Precedence? Earnhardt Believes So<\/p>\n

Even if they\u2019re terrible for most of the other 35 races, winning the Daytona 500 can make a team\u2019s season. Look at what it did for Michael McDowell in 2021, Austin Cindric in 2022, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 2023. That race defined both their season and their careers to date.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The 500) would even be compared to a championship to some drivers like myself,\u201d Earnhardt said. \u201cWould you trade a Daytona 500 trophy for a championship? That was a legitimate question you might get. No one\u2019s asking those questions now because obviously, everyone would say, \u201cI want that championship because the Daytona 500 and it\u2019s in its solidified spot as the most important race, is no longer the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a similar fashion to how President Trump likes to tout the fact he wants to Make America Great Again, Earnhardt wants to make Daytona great again\u2014and that\u2019s why he proposes a fourth stage at both its races, as well as the two races at Talladega.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo adding this fourth stage and making those races mean more from a point standpoint would also make the races again mean more from a competitor\u2019s standpoint,\u201d Earnhardt said. \u201cIs it the best solution? No. Is it the perfect solution? No, it\u2019s not. I\u2019m sure fans will tell you, \u2018Well, get rid of the stages.\u2019\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I don\u2019t know that\u2019s on the table,\u201d Earnhardt said. \u201cI don\u2019t think NASCAR is considering that, or else I would try to use whatever influence we have here to support that. But I think adding the fourth stage is maybe not the best idea, but it\u2019s an idea, I guess, that [NASCAR is] contemplating.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even with all the rumors flying around about a potential change in the NASCAR playoff format as early…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":237982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[4727,12440,1406,1459,62,127550,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-237981","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-dale-earnhardt-jr","9":"tag-daytona","10":"tag-nascar","11":"tag-nascar-cup-series","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-talladega","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115228890199925177","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}