Kyle Larson has stacked up stage points this season, especially during the Chase, while putting himself in contention for his third Cup Series championship.
Videos by FanBuzz
That doesn't mean that he is necessarily a big fan of them and the impact that they can have on the standings.
"I just think we're the only series that gives out those little participation awards in competition," Larson said on Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The 2026 NASCAR season marks the first time that the Chase has taken place with drivers earning stage points.
These bonus points paid out in the middle of the race have been a part of the sport for nearly a decade, but they mattered less in the elimination era of the playoffs. Points just reset every round until only one race remained to determine the champion.
Now, the stage points just keep accumulating throughout the 10-race Chase. If a driver scores stage points early, they can build a buffer in case they run into any late-race issues.
On the flip side, which Larson mentioned, a driver can finish 10th or better in a race but still fall in the standings if they missed out on stage points early.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, I could be off, but I think Ryan Preece has finished in the top-10 every race in the Chase; four top-10s probably or he's been right around 10th every time," Larson said.
"But he's probably got five-ish stage points in the Chase, and he's not made any ground up, it seems. He's probably got one of the better average finishes out of all of us, yet he's stuck because others get good stage points, a rotor failure, a crash or whatever, and they earn almost as many points as he does."
Larson doesn't necessarily hate stage points, nor is he calling for them to go away. He sees the upside of rewarding the drivers for running inside the top 10 throughout the day.
He also believes that drivers should be rewarded for delivering consistent, strong finishes throughout the season.
To Larson's point, Preece entered the Chase as the 16th seed. He has finished 10th in three races and 17th in the other. Yet, Preece has only moved to 14th in the standings with six Chase races remaining.
He has only scored eight stage points, and he has fallen to 173 points back of Larson. At this point, he is out of contention for the championship.
For comparison, Larson has two wins in four Chase races. He has finished fifth and second in the other two races. He has scored 58 stage points.
He has also started 25th, second, first, and second in these four races, three of which did not have qualifying due to weather. Preece has lined up third, 14th, 16th, and ninth.
Another driver to compare in this situation is Ryan Blaney. The 2023 Cup Series champion has finished fourth, 35th, 33rd, and fifth in four Chase races. He has scored 44, 16, 19, and 37 points in these races while scoring 45 stage points.
Blaney scored the majority of his stage points at Gateway (14) and Bristol (15), so he left both tracks with double-digit points instead of four or fewer.
"A team like (Preece's) might not qualify in the top-15; you've got to just grind your way through the race, and you just run 11th in every stage," Larson said.
"And then, you squeak into the top-10 and it's like you've not really gained much on the guys that got a DNF."
