NASCAR officials bring back stage breaks for Charlotte road-course race

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. 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 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). RELATED: Cup playoff hub | Buy tickets for Charlotte 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. At the previous five road-course races for the Cup Series and select events in other national series this year, the green-checkered flag still waved to signify the end of stages and championship points were still awarded, but the racing continued under green-flag conditions. In the last two road-course races for the Cup Series (Indianapolis and Watkins Glen), only one caution period slowed the action, and drivers noted the physical demands of long green-flag stints without breaks. 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. 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. The Charlotte Motor Speedway road course is scheduled as the final race in the Cup Series Playoffs' Round of 12 and the sixth of 10 races in the postseason.