NASCAR Needs a New Points System

What sport has a points system that has its driver with the most wins in 11th place in the standings? Of course NASCAR.

I’m far from being a NASCAR expert, but something is wrong with the system if your leader in wins is not No. 1.

The points system in NASCAR is so confusing it’s hard to explain or comprehend it. And you thought the BCS is messed up.

Basically the NASCAR points system is not only based on just the number of wins one gets and where you place, but the number of laps led in a race, which makes no sense to me or anybody else what so ever.

Mark Martin won at Chicagoland Race Course Saturday night and has won the most races (four) so far this season. But because he hasn’t led the most laps or placed higher in certain races, he is not even in the top 10 in the points standing. Tony Stewart is tops right now with two wins.

Now, I can understand to a certain extent why you do need a points system to determine who leads what, because there are only a handfull of drivers who have actually won races this year. But when guys are ahead of the guy who has won the most races thus far, changes need to be made.

How about this: The guy who wins the most races is your leader and you use the point system to determine who comes behind him. One thing I hate about “The Chase” is that after half way through the season, if you aren’t one of the Top 12 drivers, you basically don’t exist any more.

If NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. gets hot and wins a bunch of races, it won’t count because he isn’t involved in the Chase. Junior, in fact, won’t make the Chase again for the third time out of the last four years.

The point is: Wouldn’t the Chase be more exciting and fair if all the drivers are involved instead of just the Top 12? It was more fun last year to see Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards go at it for the first half of the season rather than see Jimmie Johnson over take them both in the end.

I know this system is supposed to bring more excitement to NASCAR, but instead it’s going to bring more controversy and confusion. It would be a shame if Mark Martin were to win more races this year, but can’t win a championship because of a flawed system.