NASCAR reveals 2018 stage lengths

By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor

One week before the opening weekend of the season, NASCAR has unveiled the stage lengths for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, XFINITY Series and Camping World Truck Series.

Cup Series

The Cup Series schedule remains virtually unchanged, mirroring the stages seen in the format’s inaugural run in 2017. The Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS) will again utilize a special fourth stage, running four 150-mile stages throughout the night.

The stage lengths for the tour’s unique new event – the road course race on the CMS Roval – will be determined at a later date.

XFINITY Series

Much like NASCAR’s top tour, the XFINITY Series stage lengths remain largely unchanged for 2017.

The lone notable alterations come in events at ISM Raceway and Dover International Speedway. The four races at Phoenix and Dover will now see stages ending on laps 45 and 90 as opposed to 60 and 120, cutting 15 laps off of each stage.

Similar to their Cup counterpart, the stage lengths for the race at the CMS Roval will be announced at a later date.

Truck Series

Continuing the trend of the other two tours, NASCAR’s smallest national series will also see similar stage lengths to 2017.

The biggest change for the Truck Series garage comes at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the tour will run two races with stages ending on Lap 40 and 80. At 134 total laps, the events will be 12 laps shorter than the 350-kilometer race contested by the tour in Las Vegas during recent years.

All final stages for each series will have the potential to be increased in the event of NASCAR Overtime. All races become official at the end of Stage 2, meaning cancellation event for rain or another cause after that point would signify the end of the race.

The NASCAR season will begin on Feb. 16-18, with all three championships competing in their traditional opening weekend at Daytona International Speedway.