By: Zach Arnold

Austin Cindric shared his thoughts on not having any stage breaks on road courses in 2023. One thing the Ohio native liked about not having a stoppage throughout the race was that the best cars had the most opportunity to maximize their day.   

“The thing that I do like about the stage cautions being eliminated on road courses is that the best cars get rewarded for running the best because, otherwise, if you wanted to win the race, you were never gonna get max points, period,” Cindric told NEWS FROM THE PITS, “You pretty much had to throw away stage points to win a road course race last year, or really since the start of stage racing, so I think that brings in the spirit of rewarding running well and that’s what I’ve always thought stage points were all about.”  

Back when NASCAR had stopped at the end of each stage, drivers were forced to give up track position for a pit stop. The drivers who decided to stay out would have to restart the next stage behind the drivers who elected to pit before the stage ended. 

Cindric also mentioned if having no more stage breaks made the race more physically demanding. When stage breaks are set throughout the race, drivers know they are racing to a certain lap where they can regroup and get prepared for the next stage.

“Just as many corners as there were at Indianapolis, I don’t think I ever took my left hand off the steering wheel. I got done with the race and my arm was locked in one position,” the 2022 Daytona 500 Champion said. “I’m sure all of us can sit at a table and try not to move your arm for three-and-a-half hours. It doesn’t even matter if you’re putting in a physical effort, it’s gonna be very tiresome to do that.”

The 24-year-old also added that it can depend on the track. The next road course on the schedule is the Charlotte Roval. He said that the track will be more of a challenge as the race car gets harder to manage throughout the run due to the track becoming more slick, due to tire fall-off.

Austin Cindric looks to win his way into the playoffs at Daytona International Speedway this Saturday for the final regular season race in 2023. Catch the race on NBC Sports at 7 p.m.