NASCAR has made a massive rule change for the rest of the 2026 season. Starting at Iowa Speedway, NASCAR will introduce a new stage break procedure to create more green-flag racing. The procedure will occur when a natural caution occurs with 10 or fewer laps remaining in Stage 1 or 2.
In that scenario, the stage will become official at the time of caution. The same caution period will serve as the scheduled stage break. When the field returns to the start/finish line under yellow, the leader will receive the green-and-white checkered flag along with the yellow.
This is an amazing decision by NASCAR, as the races have been lengthened due to untimely yellows in the past. There have been one- to two-lap sprints to complete stages, prolonging the event.
Now, NASCAR wants to make sure that green-flag racing is the prioroity moving forward.
This article originally appeared on Motorsports Wire: NASCAR makes massive rule changes for stage breaks for rest of 2026
