NASCAR is history....
All this “stages” and “phases” and such ended NASCAR years ago...
To start, I quit watching NASCAR when the President stopped a race to lecture the audience about race. That was my last straw. Haven’t seen a race since and I was a very serious fan.
That said, I actually liked the concept of the stages, but of course, the execution is stupid. There’s no reason to throw a caution flag at each stage break.
At the stage point, the top drivers get their points and the crew chief can congratulate them on the radio as they put the hammer down to keep racing.