NASCAR delivers another road course dud, this time at Watkins Glen

The race's only noteworthy moment occurred when Chase Elliott, desperately in need of a win to make the playoffs, ran out of fuel and stalled on the track. Other than that, there were no caution-worthy incidents and passing was virtually non-existent.

What happened? Until recently, NASCAR's road courses were among the most action-packed events on the schedule and they remain so in the sport's lower series, as proven by Saturday's exciting Xfinity Series finish.

The biggest factor may be the Gen 7 car, which was designed to drive well on road courses. As it turns out, it may drive a little bit too well, correcting drivers' errors for them and making passing very difficult unless someone misses a corner.

There was also hardly any lap time fall-off this weekend, with drivers running at similar speeds with worn tires as they would run with fresh tires. Tire wear makes the cars more difficult to handle and allows for movement throughout the field over the course of a run.

Additionally, NASCAR removed stage cautions on road courses before this season. This was the correct move, but with this little action on the track due to the other factors, it has eliminated the only thing that would otherwise make road courses interesting.

Both Sunday's race at Watkins Glen and the previous race at the Indianapolis Road Course were completed in roughly two hours, an exceptionally short duration for a Cup Series race. Not a very good look for fans who've argued that shorter races will lead to more action due to a greater sense of urgency.

There's only one more road course on the schedule in 2023, at Charlotte in October. By the time 2024 rolls around, hopefully something will have changed to the racing package on road courses in order to make them more exciting again.