The regular-season finale at Daytona didn’t just sizzle, it detonated. Under the Saturday night lights on August 23, 2025, the Coke Zero Sugar 400 delivered the kind of white-knuckle theater only the World Center of Racing seems to summon. Weather-tossed qualifying set the grid by metric, playoff math was hanging by a thread, and a four-wide, last-lap dash saw Ryan Blaney storm from 13th to the lead to take his second win of the year and secure a vital playoff boost. Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman squeaked into the postseason on points, while bubble drivers threw the kitchen sink at the draft in a frantic final stint. It was Daytona at its most cinematic and a reminder that when the pack decides to go, it really goes. But before that fireworks finale, a quieter, calculated game shaped the script up lap after lap.

With a 160-lap distance and stage lengths that force at least one fuel stop in each of the longer segments, the incentive structure at superspeedways is clear: save enough gas to spend less time stationary. The stage cautions themselves became tactical flashpoints. Multiple pause points meant crews and drivers repeatedly had to choose between pitting for fuel under a stage break, gambling on green-flag runs, or settling into “fuel save” mode when the field strung out on the run to the next yellow. In a frontstretch interview after the Coke Zero Sugar 400, Ryan Blaney explained, “I think we kind of just took what was given to us … I went into max fuel save mode to where I could go a little bit earlier than other guys.” Austin Cindric, too, discussed the prevalence of fuel-saving strategies, saying, “A lot of the time, everybody isn’t saving fuel or saving the same amount of fuel or doing the same tactics. A lot of things that are probably really difficult to cover as far as what goes on…” That feeling of frustration bubbled over on social media and in garages, and it found one particular blunt and viral expression from Jeff Burton.

Jeff Burton, “The Mayor” of NASCAR, posted a tweet on X within hours of the checkered flag, which instantly became a rallying cry for fans and some drivers who complained that stage breaks encourage the very fuel-economy poker that dulls green-flag action. He wrote, “We need to add and extra stage in these races to end this fuel saving cr–.” Being a Cup Series driver for 22 years, amassing 21 wins, including two prestigious Coca-Cola 600s and the 1999 Southern 500, along with 27 victories in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series, Burton knows the trouble that the Next-Gen cars are causing to the field. Since its 2022 debut, the car’s aero package, independent suspension, and standardized parts have made drafting packs tighter and passing more difficult, especially on superspeedways like Daytona, intensifying the fuel save mode. On the other hand, stage racing did not help either.

Stage racing was not an overnight whim; it was an institutional answer to viewership plateaus and the need to inject more meaningful moments into races. Introduced across NASCAR’s top series in 2017, the three-stage format divided events into shorter stages that awarded points, with a longer final stage determining the winner. This structure was designed to keep more drivers engaged and give broadcasters natural stoppages for storytelling and commercial breaks. NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace also observed that stage racing remains divisive, saying, “The stage racing is something that half the people like and half the people hate. If anyone tells you that it’s overwhelmingly the most popular thing. In my opinion, it’s not.” Those tradeoffs, entertainment values versus engineered moments, are exactly what make the format a perennial lightning rod.

Social feeds, Reddit race threads, and post-race message boards lit up after Daytona, with voices ranging from nostalgia for full-throttle pack racing to pragmatic acceptance that stages added drama and points intrigue. If Daytona‘s fuel-saving stretches are the symptom, then Burton’s blunt prescription might be the start of a wider conversation. Right now, his comment has sparked a new debate about whether the sport should tinker with or topple the very rule that has defined modern NASCAR racing.

NASCAR loyalists sound off on stage breaks after Daytona race

One fan opined, “From start to finish, you should never stop.” Critics have often pointed out that the Next Gen car’s aero and pack behavior have amplified fuel-conservation tactics, with Hendrick Motorsports’ analysis calling it “a fuel conservation contest” at Daytona. Drivers like Carson Hocevar even mocked the tactic on X in February, writing, “NASCAR really needs to get these packs broken up to stop this nonsense. Back in the early 2000s was some of the best ss racing. I wish we could get back to that point. The packs are broken up a little bit but not too much, drivers could pass and get runs, no fuel saving.” Even fans have been complaining about it for quite a while now.

Another fan suggested, “Each stage, if we have them, should be 1/6 distance, 1/2, then the second half is one stage, first stage is a sprint, the third is your more traditional race.” For instance, short sprints force flat-out racing, like Formula 1‘s sprint events, running about one-third of a grand prix specifically to encourage aggressive, no-holds-barred competition. A mid-race, half-distance segment would then allow teams to puzzle over strategy and pit sequencing without the artificial rhythm of frequent cautions, similar to how some series use a mixed sprint/feature structure to balance spectacle and tactics. It is a format fans on discussion boards have repeatedly proposed as a middle ground between purse print weekends and the existing three-stage setup.

Others quipped in, saying, “No just need to make it not the only way to pass. Xfinity doesn’t do it to this extreme bc they can pass.” Xfinity cars use distinct aero, suspension, and transmission packages that tend to produce less stuck-together pack behavior and more genuine lane-to-lane passing. Some examples may be that of Parker Kligerman’s (Connor Zilisch’s relief driver) overtime victory at the Wawa 250 in 2025, which showed how cars slice and swap more frequently than one would often see in a Next-Gen Cup pack.

One fan wrote, “Or just get rid of them all together. Well, that and develop a proper stock car instead of a sports car masquerading as one.” Many critics point out tech elements in the Next Gen car platform, including the diffuser, modular bodywork, sequential gearbox, and single-lug wheels, that, while intended to cut costs and modernize the sport, have also produced handling and aero behaviors more commonly associated with purpose-built sports cars. When NASCAR’s earlier COT cars carried a radical wing and radical aero treatments, fans and drivers complained that it looked and raced unlike a stock car, prompting NASCAR to revert to a traditional spoiler after heavy pushback. But the Next Gen has created even more problems.

Others suggested, “or just remove stage cautions or I have a better idea: Halfway bonus in each race but no caution for it.” Some have noted that long, uninterrupted green-flag runs have produced some of the sport’s most memorable fuel-strategy finishes, including the 2003 Daytona 400’s long green stretch deciding the winner when fuel ran out. So, a halfway bonus could preserve a midrace incentive while keeping the green-flag racing instinct. Others also float similar fixes, from scrapping stage cautions to awarding midrace cash-point bonuses without a yellow, arguing that those changes would remove the “manufactured caution” stigma while still rewarding midrace aggression.

In the end, whether it’s bonus points, altered stages, or no cautions at all, the push for a more natural flow of competition is growing louder.