Poll Position: When wins don't add up, time to revisit points system
CBSSports.com editor Brian De Los Santos, writer Pete Pistone and a chosen member of the community (for a pure fan perspective) share their thoughts on this week's poll question.
Despite winning three of the first five races, Jimmie Johnson sits third in the Sprint Cup standings. Does NASCAR's points system need a major overhaul, minor tweak or is it fine the way it is?
PETE PISTONE: I think the fact that consistency plays a big part in deciding the NASCAR champions is a good thing and that part of the equation should remain. There's something to be said for a driver that can week in and week out hammer down top five and 10 finishes. But winning should be the most important element of the sport and be rewarded as such. I'm not ready to swing the pendulum completely over to the side of awarding the championship to the driver who wins the most races over the course of the year, but getting to Victory Lane should be compensated in a bigger way.
NASCAR took a step in the right direction by seeding the Chase based on victories during the "regular" season and those 10 bonus points for each checkered flag is a good start. But I'd up that ante to 15 or even 20 bonus points. And I'd also add 20 or 25 points to the total number awarded to each race winner as part of the cumulative total. A guy who comes home first should have more in his point total than 10 or 15 over the second-place finisher. And while we're throwing out ideas, how about a bonus of some kind to the driver on top of the regular season standings after the first 26 races? The current system is pretty good but more tweaks to emphasize what racing should always be about -- winning -- need to go into effect.
BRIAN DE LOS SANTOS: This debate comes up every year -- though usually not this early in the season. I find it ridiculous that a driver with three wins in five races is trailing not one, but two drivers who have yet to visit Victory Lane in 2010. Points leader Kevin Harvick doesn't even have as many top fives as Johnson has wins. Nobody sees anything wrong with the fact that Johnson could actually win yet again this weekend and still not have the points lead? All because of one finish outside the top 15? I understand wanting to reward consistency, but let's put a little logic into the equation as well.
Drivers who actually win races should absolutely get more points than they're currently receiving. I've made the point several times over the years that NASCAR's system is such that if two drivers start the Chase with an equal amount of points, Driver A could actually win nine of the final 10 races and lose the title to Driver B who finishes no better than third in any of the 10 races. Yes, it's highly improbable, but the fact that it's even possible astounds me.
All I'm supporting is a minor tweaking of the system -- 200 points (instead of the current 185) to race winners. Second-place points remain at 170. Five-point bonus to the driver who leads the most laps remains in play, but the bonus for simply leading a lap is eliminated.
(I never understood why anyone should get bonus points because they waited an extra lap to make their stop while the rest of the leaders pitted under caution or because a teammate slowed to help out another teammate.)
It's not such a huge change that consistency won't still play a part in crowning a champion, but it's enough of a change that drivers might more aggressively fight for a win rather than simply settle for a top five or top 10.
HardToBeat20: I really don't have much of an issue with NASCAR's weekly points system and think that it is fine the way that it is. I happen to think that the position drivers sit in the points should directly reflect how consistent they are compared to their fellow competitors. This is why I think if any changes should be made to the points system it should be done in regards to how the points get reset when the Chase starts, but that is a discussion for another day.
The two guys in front of Johnson have finished in the top 15 in all five races. So far this year, Johnson has three top-10 finishes, granted all three of those are wins, but his overall performance isn't better then the guys above him. If it wasn't for the points system tweak from a couple of years ago -- when the winner receives 185 versus 180 for winning -- he would actually be sitting in fourth place right now.
If anybody should be displeased with the current point system, it should be Greg Biffle, who sits just behind Johnson in fourth, even after having five top-10 finishes. The season-long standings should be all about consistency. Bottom line -- Johnson has managed to be consistent in having three wins. However, he hasn't been consistent enough to have finished all of the events, and as a result isn't on top of the standings.
