How to update the NASCAR points system.

With all of the talk in the media, the new media namely social groups and blogs, and among NASCAR fans about what should be changed in the upcoming NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season that is set to kick off next month (February) on the 17th with the 50th running of the Daytona 500, I began thinking about the points system and an article I wrote a little over a year ago that highlighted what I would like to see the current points system changed to look like and it has gotten some good feedback both here at Racedriven.com (original article) and over at my Racedriven Overdrive blog I had in 2006. However, with every article, there is still room for improvement and that is what I have done with adding some more tweaks that I picked up from the 2007 season.

One of the biggest questions in NASCAR is how to update the current points system used in all three of NASCAR's top racing series including the NASCAR Sprint (formally Nextel) Cup Series. The idea of completely rebuilding the points system is not needed at all. This 36 year+ old system is just fine with a couple of needed tweaks to still give drivers the chance of winning the championship even if they have a couple of bad races. The current system rewards drivers for consistence and not for victories, the points system needs to do both.

One other problem that does need to be addressed is at any given NASCAR race after a wreck happens, drivers that were involved in the wreck will return back to the racetrack and make laps at the minimum speed limit to get a little higher up in the finishing order, namely for more points, however, in doing so, those drivers would end up making an even bigger mess for the leaders to get through and sometimes resulting in more wrecks, case in point, Talladega, need I say more.

So here we go...

This points system would still be used through the entire 36-race schedule including the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup Series Championship. When it comes to points per position, the winner of each race would receive 142 points (which is 20 points per victory including 5 bonus points for leading a lap), second gets 122 points, third would receive 116 points, then its five-point increments separate drivers' points for finishers in 4th and 5th. Then its three-point increments separate drivers' points for finishers in 7th through 33rd. 33rd though 43rd finishing position would receive the same points (20 points.)

The 33rd though 43rd would result in the same points given for each position and hopefully help keep the wrecks cars in the garage and not coming back on track running at minimum speed.

Bonus Points:
5 - leading a lap
5 - leading the most laps
20 - winning a race including 5 points for leading a lap
50 - winning the 26-race points standings going into the 10-race chase.

When it comes to a 50 point bonus for winning the regular season, a driver should be rewarded for winning the regular season, namely being the points leader after Richmond, last year (2007), it was Jeff Gordon and he got nothing for being the leading going into the chase.

The Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship format (that is determined by point standings) would include either the top 10 or top 12 drivers in points, even though I was against the top 12 advancing to the chase when it was first announced, it gives more drivers a shot, but in that case, there should be a cap on how many points they are behind the points leader, -800 will not do at all, I was thinking more along the lines of any driver -600 points back would be in, a minimum of the top 10 make it in to the chase no matter what.

So for the start of the Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship, instead of the order being determined by just the number of victories, it would be 50-point on top of the 10 points per victory (10 points per victory in the 26-race regular season.)

So if this points system were in place for the 2007 season, the points going into the chase at New Hampshire would read (stats borrowed from Jayski.com and then I added the 50 bonus points for winning the regular season on to Jeff Gordon’s total.)

1-Jeff Gordon --
2-Jimmie Johnson -30
3-Tony Stewart -60
4-Carl Edwards -70
5-Kurt Busch -70
6-Denny Hamlin -80
7-Matt Kenseth -80
8-Kyle Busch -80
9-Jeff Burton -80
10-Martin Truex -80
11-Kevin Harvick -80
12-Clint Bowyer -90

(So Jeff Gordon would lead by +30 points over Jimmie Johnson, instead of Jimmie Johnson leading by -20 points over Jeff Gordon. This would also put Clint Bowyer -90 back, instead of only -60 points back.)

This new points system above includes my original idea that I wrote on back in September 2006, plus NASCAR’s additional point bonus for the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup which is the top 12 and the new points for the start of the chase separating each driver by the number of victories they had during the regular season. What a change this could have on who wins the Sprint (formally Nextel) Cup Series Championship, it is different.

Any Comments?

- Racedriven