NASCAR’s new points system for the 2011 season was intended to make the Sprint Cup Series’ standings easier to understand and it certainly has, as it is apparent some of NASCAR’s top drivers sit in poor position just two races into the season.
While points leader Kyle Busch sits atop the standings with 80 points and a three-point cushion over brother Kurt, many of NASCAR’s top drivers – Greg Biffle (32 points), Jeff Burton (27), David Reutimann (29) and Brian Vickers (27) – are precariously trailing in points under a new system that more harshly punishes drivers for poor finishes.
Entering 2011, NASCAR did away with an archaic system that befuddled both drivers, fans and officials alike, instituting a new points system awarding 43 points to the race winner down to just one point for the last-place driver in one-point increments, plus bonus points. And while the new system rewards a driver with a similar percentage of points for winning, it also most certainly damns those finishing poorly; a last-place driver would claim nearly 20 percent of the winner’s points total under the old system, but that driver would now receive a slim two percent of the winner’s points.
In short, a poor finish hurts badly in the new system and a few poor finishes can leave a driver out of contention early in the season.
“I haven’t taken a calculator to it, but it does seem like, if you have one or two real bad races, worse than 35th, then you’re going to be in big trouble,” 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth said to the Sporting News.
Many NASCAR Sprint Cup stars may be buried among their peers in the points standings, but history has shown a number of drivers can still recover and make the Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR’s postseason. Just last season, both Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin overcame early adversity to qualify for the Chase, with each sitting below the top-20 after two races before bouncing back, and Vickers was one of four drivers to do so in 2008. However, no driver was able to bounce back from a poor start in 2006 and the new points system may make a recovery more difficult than in previous seasons.
The season is still young and drivers can rebound quickly – after his win in Phoenix, Gordon surged 12 positions in the points from 20th to eighth and, conversely, Carl Edwards dropped 11 positions to 12th – but NASCAR’s new points system has left some of the sport’s top stars in a difficult points position just two weeks into the season.
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