Top Stories of 2017, #12: NASCAR introduces stage racing

When NASCAR first introduced the concept of stage racing, there were plenty of skeptics who dismissed the idea. But the idea had its supporters, especially within the garage.

"I look at races as soon as the plate tracks, especially Talladega, and you might have seen cars that have lagged back in the past. You’re not going to do that anymore.  The single file, high line ride out, those days are gone," explained Brad Keselowski before the season. His prediction turned out to be right.

The addition of stages to NASCAR's grueling 400 and 500 mile races had an immediate impact. The Daytona 500 was a dynamic race with various pit strategies from the get-go and hard racing in the middle portions of the event as drivers fought tooth and nail for stage points.

But it wasn't just the plate races. As the season progressed, the stages proved their worth time and time again. It created a race within the race of sorts that helped keep excitement up from start to finish. Daring calls, one-lap scrambles for bonus points and slower traffic fighting extra hard to keep the leaders at bay were all byproducts of stage racing. It gave the drivers no time to relax and a top five without any stage points turned out to be a bad day.

Beyond the drama it added to each event, the importance of said points became a major talking point as the championship battle heated up. Martin Truex Jr., who won more stages than any other driver (19), mastered the new format and put himself in a prime position to advance through each round of the Playoffs without fear of elimination. In 2016, an engine failure at Talladega ended his title hopes, but if stage points had been in play then, his situation wouldn't have been near as precarious.

Beyond that, points margins between battling drivers were cut down before the race even reached its conclusion, igniting tense battles in all three national divisions during the third and final stage.

Despite winning three races, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson won just won stage during the 2017 season and was eliminated from title contention in the Round of 8, ending up tenth in the final standings. He realized just how important the stages were after the first race of the Playoffs at Chicagoland Speedway.

"We had a white board with points earned on last weekend’s race (Chicagoland) and you would think that an eighth-place finish would yield a fair amount of points, but we didn’t score any stage points. I can’t remember exactly now, but we didn’t leave the track with the eighth most points scored; it was much worse than that and that is a problem, especially as you get to the later rounds and need to count on points.

“I think we are all living it first-hand. I think we understood the concept, but now that it is in your face and you live it day-to-day and kind of obsess over it, I think it is making it much more apparent to myself and others how important those stage points are.”

Meanwhile, the two drivers who won the most stages -- Truex and Kyle Busch -- finished the season first and second in the championship standings.

The stages gave incentive for drivers to push harder, forced crew chiefs to roll the dice more often, allowed the best to have a cushion in NASCAR's unforgiving championship format and added a much-needed dose of drama to the sport's longest races.

It's safe to say that stage racing won't be going away anytime soon.