“It turns into an F1 race”: Joey Logano thinks lack of stage break cautions make for uneventful NASCAR road course races

Team Penske's driver of the #22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang, Joey Logano is one of the few drivers who believes NASCAR's reintroduction of stage break cautions is a good move.

After five road-course races in the 2023 Cup Series season running their course without interruptions between stages, the governing body has seemingly gone back on its original decision.

With the prior races seeing no caution flag periods as drivers raced from the green flag drop until the checkered, fans of the sport were left divided.

Charlotte Motor Speedway's road-course layout, popularly called the Roval, will see the return of the cautions between stages. NASCAR officials claim to want to officiate the playoffs in a consistent manner.

Reigning Cup Series champion Joey Logano was all for the decision as he felt the ruling took away the excitement from the sport, which NASCAR prides itself upon. He recently elaborated on his thoughts in an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and said:

"There's hardly any cautions anymore. It turns into just a...it turns into an F1 race, like just not good enough. Throw some cautions in the dang thing, reset them, rerack them, and lets go again."

Joey Logano also touched upon the entertainment factor of the race itself, which he felt was diminished with the removal of the stage break cautions:

"Let's just think about the entertainment factor of this whole thing a little bit too. If we all know the cautions are going to be there, it's not manufactured. That's not the case at all. We know it's going to be there, we can race around it."

Michael McDowell counters Joey Logano's enthusiasm regarding stage break cautions

The optimism of Joey Logano surrounding the return of stage break cautions at the upcoming Charlotte Roval is one side of the coin on how drivers think about the new rule.

Front Row Motorsports driver and road-course specialist Michael McDowell seemed to look at it from another perspective as he replied to Logano's interview on X:

"Some like it because it gives them an opportunity to make something happen on a restart, like stuffing it 5 wide, bumper car style. It also erases the time gap lost on track due to the lack of actual speed. It gives the guys who can’t run up front all day a shot at it. Indoor karting is entertaining too. Entertainment is subjective, so I am good if the fans want it, but is that what the fans really want?"

Whether you are on board the idea of stage breaks making a comeback or not, it remains to be seen if drivers can behave themselves during the restarts. The upcoming event is going to be a heated Round of 12 race.