NASCAR will implement a new stage-break procedure for its national series beginning this weekend at Iowa Speedway, the sanctioning body announced Thursday.

According to officials, the procedure will occur when a natural caution falls within the final 10 laps of the scheduled stage break. In that event, the stage will be deemed official at the time of caution. The traditional caution process will then serve as the stage break.

If a yellow flag falls inside the final 10 laps of the stage, the leader will return to the start/finish line to receive the green-and-white checkered flag along with the yellow. The finishing order of the top 10 drivers at the time of caution will be determined using all available resources, such as scoring loops and video replay, just as it is whenever points are distributed.

The updated procedure comes after competition officials evaluated the length of caution periods and racing around stage ends to reduce the amount of time spent under caution. This process will be applied for the remainder of the 2026 season.

The Cup Series headlines the weekend at Iowa with Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races Saturday at the 0.875-mile short track (5 p.m. ET, The CW, ESPN Unlimited, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Press release & Image via – NASCAR