CUP: NASCAR Still Working On New Points Plan

Sprint Cup

CUP: NASCAR Still Working On New Points Plan

Mike Helton says changes will impact all three national series…

Mike Hembree | Posted January 21, 2011 Daytona Beach, FL

NASCAR offcials Robin Pemberton (Left), Mike Helton (Center) and John Darby (Right)at Daytona International Speedway press conference. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Although the start of the new Sprint Cup season is about a month away, NASCAR remains undecided on – or at least not ready to announce particulars of – the structure of the point system it will use to determine its champion.

In a press conference Friday at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR president Mike Helton said sanctioning body officials are continuing informational meetings with team owners and drivers and other “stakeholders” as they work toward making significant changes in the points systems used in NASCAR’s national series.

The new systems will go into effect the weekend of Feb. 18-20, when the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck series open their seasons. The new formats are expected to be revealed next week during Charlotte Motor Speedway’s annual preseason media tour.

Among the news revealed by Helton Friday in response to questions: Identical point system changes will take place in all three national series, and the “models” officials are studying for use in making changes to the season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup include “enhancing the important of winning and how that would be important in setting the Chase field.”

NASCAR seems committed to changing the point system that has been in place in the Sprint Cup series since 1975 to a “43-1” model that would award 43 points to race winners, 42 to second place, etc. The main advantage to such a change, Helton said, is simplicity.

“The goal was and has been for several years to have a more simple points system,” Helton said. “If you look at all of motorsports and even other sports, sometimes it’s complicated. The goal for some time has been to create a points system that is easy to understand and explain and easy to be talked about but also be credible at the end of the season.”

NASCAR has not talked about how bonus points might fit into the 43-1 system.

“We can continue enhancing the attention to and the appetite to win with bonus points,” Helton said. “We’re working on how we apply those to a basic simple structure. We can also do things with the events themselves. The points models start off with a simple system, but we can accomplish the attention to winning with bonus points and other pieces.”

Helton defended the delay in coming to a decision about points structures.

“I think the credibility of our final decision is better because of the collaborative effort we put into it today,” he said. “When the final decision is confirmed, our desire is to do it correctly and have one that makes sense. We spend a good deal of time having conversations. I think that helps our credibility, particularly in the garage area.”

For the first time, NASCAR, as part of its licensing process, required drivers to choose one of the three national series for championship-point consideration. The drivers can race in the other two series but won’t earn driver points in those. The most obvious impact of the change will be preventing a Sprint Cup regular from winning the Nationwide championship.

“The most important element was for NASCAR to maintain its open policy for anybody who wants to compete and has the credentials to compete in any series they want to compete in,” Helton said. “But, at the same time, there’s a desire for the Nationwide and Truck series to have a more specific identity of their own and not be confused with the Cup series and vice versa.”

There was no information Friday about the possibility of expanding the Chase field, an idea that apparently is part of NASCAR’s discussions.

In other matters, NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said the organization is continuing its work on switching to a fuel-injection system but that it’s not likely that the change will be made for any points races this year. He also said officials are pleased with the level of speed – 195-mph-plus – produced in Thursday drafts during a Sprint Cup testing session at DIS.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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