NASCAR Sprint Cup cumulative point standings

Five times in the eight-year history of the Chase, the driver who would have been crowned champion under the traditional (cumulative) points system differed from the driver who took the title in the Chase system, where the points are adjusted for Chase qualifiers prior to the final 10 races.

In 2004, Kurt Busch captured the Chase title, but under the old system, Gordon would have won his fifth championship by 47 points over Jimmie Johnson (Busch would have placed fourth, 247 points behind).

In 2007, Gordon earned a modern-era record 30 top-10 finishes in 36 races, which would have amounted to a 353-point victory over Johnson in the final standings using the traditional points system. But Johnson's four victories during the Chase gave him the title by 77 points.

In 2008, despite a 100-point penalty during the season, Carl Edwards, who led the series with nine victories, would have taken the traditional points title by 16 points. Instead, Johnson captured his third consecutive Chase title by 69 points over Edwards.

In 2010, Kevin Harvick was the only driver to average a top 10 finish (8.7) on the season, scoring three wins and 16 top fives, while leading the series with 26 top 10s. He accrued 5,274 total points, 285 more than Johnson. But in the Chase, it was Johnson again, as he claimed his fifth straight title, 39 points ahead of Denny Hamlin and 41 in front of Harvick.

In 2011, Edwards was the bridesmaid again. While he tied Tony Stewart atop the final Chase standings, Stewart was crowned champion by virtue of having five victories (all during the Chase) to just his one. For the season, Edwards had a series-high 19 top fives and 26 top 10s to earn 78 more points overall than Harvick.

In 2005, either format would have crowned Tony Stewart champion. In 2006, Johnson would have won under both formats, though by a slim four points in the traditional system, compared to 56 in the Chase. Johnson would prevail under either format in 2009 as well.

(Chase for the Championship)

2011 Top 12 (cumulative rank vs. Chase rank) -- through 36 races
Rank	Driver	Points	Behind	Chase Rank	Behind
12	Clint Bowyer	1047	231	13	1356
11	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	1071	207	7	113
10	Brad Keselowski	1079	199	5	84
9	Kurt Busch	1087	191	11	141
8	Ryan Newman	1103	175	10	119
7	Kyle Busch	1124	154	12	157
6	Jeff Gordon	1150	128	8	116
5	Matt Kenseth	1180	98	4	73
4	Jimmie Johnson	1188	90	6	99
3	Tony Stewart	1191	87	1	0
2	Kevin Harvick	1200	78	3	58
1	Carl Edwards	1278	0	2	0

2010 Top 12 (cumulative rank vs. Chase rank)
Rank	Driver	Points	Behind	Chase Rank	Behind
1	Kevin Harvick	5274	0	3	41
2	Jimmie Johnson	4989	285	1	0
3	Denny Hamlin	4865	409	2	39
4	Carl Edwards	4820	454	4	229
5	Jeff Gordon	4669	605	9	446
6	Kyle Busch	4647	627	8	440
7	Matt Kenseth	4640	634	5	328
8	Tony Stewart	4628	646	7	401
9	Kurt Busch	4459	815	11	480
10	Jeff Burton	4423	851	12	589
11	Greg Biffle	4414	860	6	375
12	Clint Bowyer	4376	898	10	467

2009 Top 12 (cumulative rank vs. Chase rank)
Rank	Driver	Points	Behind	Chase Rank	Behind
1	Jimmie Johnson	5156	0	1	0
2	Jeff Gordon	5090	66	3	179
3	Tony Stewart	5085	71	6	343
4	Denny Hamlin	4806	350	5	317
5	Mark Martin	4762	394	2	141
6	Kurt Busch	4758	398	4	206
7	Greg Biffle	4541	615	7	360
8	Juan Pablo Montoya	4503	653	8	400
9	Kyle Busch	4457	699	13	2195
10	Ryan Newman	4447	709	9	477
11	Carl Edwards	4398	758	11	534
12	Matt Kenseth	4389	767	14	2263

2008 Top 12 (cumulative rank vs. Chase rank)
Rank	Driver	Points	Behind	Chase Rank	Behind
12	Matt Kenseth	4316	920	11	500
11	Denny Hamlin	4439	797	8	470
9	Clint Bowyer	4487	749	5	303
9	Tony Stewart	4487	749	9	482
8	Jeff Gordon	4537	699	7	368
7	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	4605	631	12	557
6	Kevin Harvick	4691	545	4	276
5	Jeff Burton	4709	527	6	349
4	Greg Biffle	4747	489	3	217
3	Kyle Busch	4984	252	10	498
2	Jimmie Johnson	5220	16	1	0
1	Carl Edwards	5236	0	2	69

2007 Top 12 (cumulative rank vs. Chase rank)
Rank	Driver	Points	Behind	Chase Rank	Behind
1	Jeff Gordon	5455	0	2	77
2	Jimmie Johnson	5012	353	1	0
3	Tony Stewart	4649	706	6	481
4	Matt Kenseth	4718	737	4	425
5	Denny Hamlin	4623	832	12	580
6	Kyle Busch	4585	870	5	430
7	Carl Edwards	4574	881	9	501
8	Clint Bowyer	4556	899	3	346
9	Jeff Burton	4549	906	8	492
10	Kurt Busch	4371	1084	7	492
11	Kevin Harvick	4344	1111	10	524
12	Martin Truex Jr.	4314	1141	11	580

2006 Top 10 (cumulative rank vs. Chase rank)
Rank	Driver	Points	Behind	Chase Rank	Behind
1	Jimmie Johnson	5158	0	1	0
2	Matt Kenseth	5154	4	2	56
3	Kevin Harvick	4838	320	4	78
4	Tony Stewart	4727	431	11	1748
5	Denny Hamlin	4725	433	3	68
6	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	4641	517	5	147
7	Jeff Gordon	4567	591	6	219
8	Jeff Burton	4535	623	7	247
9	Kasey Kahne	4497	661	9	292
10	Mark Martin	4484	674	10	307

2005 Top 10 (cumulative rank vs. Chase rank)
Rank	Driver	Points	Behind	Chase Rank	Behind
1	Tony Stewart	5199	0	1	0
2	Greg Biffle	4984	215	2	35
3	Jimmie Johnson	4771	428	5	127
4	Mark Martin	4676	523	4	105
5	Carl Edwards	4597	602	3	35
6	Rusty Wallace	4512	687	8	393
7	Matt Kenseth	4451	748	7	181
8	Ryan Newman	4409	790	6	174
9	Jeremy Mayfield	4281	918	9	460
10	Kurt Busch	4248	951	10	559

2004 Top 10 (cumulative rank vs. Chase rank)
Rank	Driver	Points	Behind	Chase Rank	Behind
4	Kurt Busch	4795	247	1	0
2	Jimmie Johnson	4995	47	2	8
1	Jeff Gordon	5042	0	3	16
6	Mark Martin	4597	445	4	107
3	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	4869	173	5	138
5	Tony Stewart	4701	341	6	180
9	Ryan Newman	4361	681	7	326
8	Matt Kenseth	4376	666	8	437
10	Elliott Sadler	4315	727	9	482
7	Jamie McMurray	4597	445	11	1909

NOTE: Drivers who did not make the Chase denoted in bold