NASCAR is set to adjust the stage lengths in this year's Cup superspeedway races and is exploring a Preseason Thunder-style test session in 2027 to reduce teams' reliance on fuel saving as a strategy.
CONCORD, N.C. -- NASCAR is set to adjust the stage lengths in this year's Cup superspeedway races and is exploring a Preseason Thunder-style test session in 2027 to reduce teams' reliance on fuel saving as a strategy.
© Vasha Hunt | 2025 Oct 19 NASCAR's Chief Racing Development Officer John Probst confirmed the move on the April 7 episode of the sport's "Hauler Talk" podcast.
Starting with the April 26 NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega, superspeedway races will instead have a longer stage to start and two shorter stages to end.
At Talladega, Probst said the expected length is for the first stage to be around 100 laps and the other stages to be under 50 laps each (likely 44 laps each).
The change comes in response to backlash over fuel mileage racing with the NextGen car on the sport's two true superspeedway tracks, Talladega and Daytona.
"We talk to our fans every week so we hear what they're saying. We're hearing the feedback from fans who don't like the three-wide, fuel-saving and I think that, coming out of Daytona, we have been working hand in hand with race teams," Probst said.
Probst added teams were more hesitant about NASCAR making midseason technical changes, like adjusting horsepower or the spoiler height, than "sporting changes," like adjusting the stage lengths.
"We're confident the lengths of the last two stages will be short enough to not have to make a pit stop. It'll be interesting to see if drivers will make one pit stop or two in the first stage and if some guys may drag a group to try and make it on one," Probst said.
Probst said NASCAR is set to host preseason testing at Daytona before the 2027 season to test "pretty significant" changes to the car. It's unknown when exactly the testing will happen but Probst said it'll be enough time to test the changes.
"This [fuel saving] is a tool teams know and it'll never go away, which is reasonable on their end, so we can take steps to mitigate that. We can do sporting changes this year and then car changes next year. That is our best step at success," Probst said.
Longtime followers of the sport will remember Preseason Thunder fondly. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, NASCAR teams came down to Daytona in January to test their cars for multiple days. SPEED Network often showed the test sessions or highlights of it, giving people the first glimpse into what the season and Speedweeks would hold.
After NASCAR instituted a ban on testing during the 2008 season, Preseason Thunder slowed to a standstill but only for a few years. In 2012, Preseason Thunder returned as a full-fledged fan fest as NASCAR sought to root out the two-car drafting style that became unpopular among fans and longtime followers of the sport. It returned for two more years as NASCAR introduce the Gen 6 car and produced moments like Rusty Wallace returning to the driver's seat in 2014.
Save for 2022, when the current Cup car was new, another crackdown on testing has relegated Preseason Thunder to the past but 2027 will change that.
On "Hauler Talk," Probst also confirmed they have a layout set for the San Diego street race. He added they will need to redo some of the paving and that there may be some challenges that naturally come from racing on air base aircraft carriers frequent. He also added the base is prepared to give NASCAR the "three best flyovers of all-time."