NEWTON, Iowa — Unanimity is a rarity in the NASCAR garage. But when it comes to the sanctioning body’s new stage-break procedure, drivers seem to be all on the same page.

“Two thumbs up,” said 2023 Cup champion and Iowa pole-sitter Ryan Blaney, stamping his seal of approval.

Denny Hamlin had a similar reaction on X, using an applause GIF from the film, “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

“Certainly, if you want more green-flag racing, this will give you that,” Hamlin said Saturday.

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The new procedure will apply when a caution occurs within the final 10 laps of the opening two stages. When the field returns to the start/finish line, the top 10 cars in the field will be awarded points for their running position. The finishing order of the top 10 at the time of caution will be determined using all available resources, including scoring loops and video replay, just as it is whenever stage points are awarded.

The rule change comes after the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the conclusion of each of the opening two stages had a natural caution in the closing laps, leading to an extended yellow-flag period followed by a stage break moments later.

“I’m not sure what the intention was other than maybe not having two cautions back-to-back from an overall race time, but it seems logical,” 2020 Cup champion Chase Elliott said. “If you’re going to have a caution with a handful of laps to a stage and then having to stop again and doing the whole pit procedure again and opening it up for lead-lap cars and then lap-down cars, all of that ends up being lengthy. I think it could also open up some potential strategy options.”

The strategy could vary across all types of race tracks. At high-tire-wear tracks or venues where fuel mileage plays a major role, teams could push their fuel window to potentially score stage points, as three-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano alluded to. The change could even help eliminate fuel-saving strategies at superspeedways, though, as William Byron noted, teams typically go all out coming to the end of the opening two stages at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

It will throw an added dynamic at crew chiefs, which Byron believes is the only downside.

“Those guys plan all week planning what the fuel strategy is going to be based on how long the stage caution is going to be,” Byron added. “You will have a change on that on the strategy side, so I’m sure the crew chiefs aren’t as happy about it, but I don’t really care. For us drivers, say you’re leading the stage with 10 to go, caution comes out, you will feel a sigh of relief that you’re going to win the stage and you don’t have to do that one-lap shootout and fight it out.”

Jeremy Bullins, crew chief for Brad Keselowski, confirmed the new procedure could throw a wrench into crew chiefs’ plans, forcing them to adjust strategies they had mapped out after studying past races ahead of the weekend.

“The biggest thing that could change is let’s say you get the full 10 laps that the second stage gets longer by,” Bullins pointed out. “A lot of weeks, the second stage ends up playing out a little bit shorter than the first stage, so adding a little bit of length there could change some strategies and the fuel windows and sorts of things like that.”

Those curveballs force teams to adapt on the fly. And the teams that do it first — and best — are usually the ones in the strongest position.

“Strategy’s cool – and I think strategy is awesome when it gets changed on you in an instant,” two-time Cup champion Kyle Larson said. “It’s like whatever teams can adapt to it the quickest can have a good race and get off-strategy. It may open more opportunities at times. I think it’s a step in the right direction.”

“It’s similar to short-track Late Model racing,” said Carson Hocevar, who saw the news while living on X earlier this week. “I like it, and I think it will probably change the game soon and allow for crew chiefs to make mistakes or flip the field if you catch people off guard. Ultimately, just not make the race as predictable.”

Spending long stretches riding around under caution wasn’t ideal for the drivers, either. They are pleased to see a portion of that waiting game eliminated.

“I think it’s good because, dude, it sucks for all of us when we’re out there and we get a caution with five to go until the end of the stage, and they are going to try to do a one-lap shootout,” the always blunt Larson said.

“We spend too much time under yellow, so the more race laps will be good,” Shane van Gisbergen said.

Blaney added: “Sitting behind the wheel of the thing when the caution does come out with four or five laps before the end of the stage, you know you’re not going to restart it, and you ride around for double the time — that’s no fun for anybody. That’s no fun for anybody watching, not fun for us either, sitting around and cruising around for extra laps and taking time up.”

While stage breaks remain part of the format, the change brings more rhythm back into the race weekend. The uncertainty of when a particular stage could end adds another layer of intrigue without completely reinventing the way teams approach the event.

“In my mind, it’s leaning back in the direction of a natural race progression,” Elliott said. “I know the stages are still there, but it feels less fabricated than knowing you’re going to have that on an exact, specific lap. At least it’s in a little bit of a window, and I don’t see anything bad.”

The first encounter with the new procedure in the Cup Series will come during Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).