SUPER BOWL SUNDAY… WITH A NASCAR STAGE RACING TWIST 

Super Bowl Sunday.  Kansas City Chiefs versus the Philadelphia Eagles.  For all the marbles. 

As you are sitting in front of your TV set this Sunday night, taking in the most watched sports spectacle of the year, keep this in mind if the game gets a little boring or it’s not going your way and you need to change things up a little. 

NASCAR Stage Racing Football! 
Just imagine if NASCAR ran the NFL and football games were played using their now signature Stage Racing format.   

It’s not that much of a stretch.  Actually, easy if you try.   Here’s how it would go-   

Stages 

Instead of four quarters, the game would be played using three Stages.  Quarter 1 would be Stage 1.  Quarter 2 would be Stage 2.  The Second Half would be Stage 3.  The breakdown fits quite nicely. 

Stage Scoring, Stage Points & Points Reset   

The Team that scores the most points in Stage (Quarter) 1 would receive 3 Stage Points for use in the Final Stage.  The team behind would receive 0 Stage Points.  If the teams are tied the team with possession of the ball at the end of the Stage is the Stage winner and gets the 3 Stage Points.  Game Points would be reset to 0-0 (like bunching the field during the Stage Caution) to start the next Stage and they would go at it again for Stage 2. 

Stage 2 would be scored like Stage 1 with the team scoring the most points during that Quarter earning 3 Stage Points and the other team receiving 0. 

Final Stage    

Like Stages 1 and 2, points would be reset for the start of Stage 3, except this time instead of the score being reset back to 0-0 it would reset with the Stage Points earned in Stages 1 and 2.  This means the Final Stage scores would always start either 3-3 or 6-0 depending on how many Stages each team won. 

The Final Stage would then finish out like a normal football game.   

Got it?  Pretty crazy, huh?  No matter how badly your team may be getting beat in the first half, you are never out of the game.   A TD and PAT to open the Second Half, I mean Stage 3 and they are right back on top. 

Isn’t it great!  Oh, the excitement and drama! 

On the other hand, no matter how bad you’re kicking the other team’s tail in the first half, you must give it almost all back for the second half and do it all over again.     

Here’s an Example 

Still a little fuzzy on how Stage Racing applies to Football?  Let’s go back to the Ohio State University-Notre Dame College Football Championship game as an example to see how it would have turned out if NASCAR controlled football.  Maybe that will help clear things up a little. 

If you recall, Notre Dame opened with a Touchdown and held OSU scoreless the first Stage (Quarter) for a 7-0 lead in the Game Score.  After the Stage 1 Reset, the Game Score went back to 0-0 for Stage 2 with ND having 3 Stage Points for use in the Final Stage. 

Stage 2 saw OSU hang 21 Game Points on the Fighting Irish to earn their 3 Stage Points.  After the Stage 2 reset and the application of Stage Points, the Final Stage opens in a 3-3 tie instead of a boring 21-7 that we all experienced. 

In the Final Stage (Half) Notre Dame put up 16 points to the OSU’s 13 giving us a Final Score-Notre Dame 19-OSU 16.   

Notre Dame is the 2025 College Football Champions! 

Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame, Wake up the echoes, cheering her name.  

Woo!  Hoo! 

Honestly, isn’t that so much more exciting? 

Final Thoughts 

I know, I know… if Stage Football was the rule, teams would play the game differently.  OSU would have attacked the second half much differently if it opened 3-3 instead of the real 21-7… but it’s still kind of fun to imagine. 

So, if this little diversion Sunday night called the Super Bowl becomes a little boring, it’s OK to imagine just how different it could be if you just apply a little Daytona 500 to it.   

Whatever you do though, when racing’s Super Bowl Sunday rolls around, don’t go the other way and let your mind drift back and imagine what racing would be like if the NFL ran NASCAR.  There are times when stick and ball doesn’t translate well to the uniqueness of motorsports… no matter how hard it’s tried. 

Thunder On… and Stay Safe! 

David Nance