What Will a New Points System Mean for the 2011 NASCAR Season?

Ever since I caught parts of the Sprint Cup testing at Daytona International Speedway last week, I’ve been getting excited about the new season.  Actually, excited doesn’t begin to even cover it; raring to go would be more accurate.  Like “Gentlemen Start Your Engines,” let’s go, racing ready. BRING IT ON!

As NASCAR announced yesterday, the points structure has changed this season.  Everyone is in a roar about it with the usual pro-change and anti-change arguments.  My initial gut reaction was to be anti-change.  I thought it was dumb to change the points structure. My main argument; that you don’t see football or baseball or even basketball just up and changing their scoring system and I believe NASCAR has a sound one. 

However, when further contemplating this new points structure I realize that it isn't ALL that different.  The most points for a race are now only 48 (43 for first, three bonus points for the win, one bonus point for leading a lap, and one bonus point for leading the most laps). It’s still the same concept with just fewer points. I am no mathematician but I think that in the end this will still reward consistency in the drivers. The only negative thing I can think of is it can make a bad day really bad, but with there only being 48 max points available it might make recovering from that bad day a little easier. I guess only time will tell.

More of a concern to me was the announcement about the change in the way the chase field will be set.  The first 10 will still be set in the chase.  But the 11th and 12th spots in the chase will not necessarily go to those who are 11th and 12th in points. Those two spots are now available to whomever in positions 11-20 who has the most wins.  It takes away the reward for consistency and makes it based only on your ability to get to the checkers first.  This will make those rain-shortened race wins all the more critical so pit strategy because paramount. I am unsure how I feel about this change. Some believe it will make for a more exciting race to the chase as well as a more exciting chase itself, but I am not sure. Ask me at the end of the season.  

The order for qualifying will now be set on practice speeds instead of by random draw. This will put more of an emphasis on first practice and dialing in the car as soon as possible.  There is also all the driver and team changes that will taking getting use to. I am talking about seeing Kasey Kahne in the #4 Red Bull car, Kurt Busch in the #22 Shell car and seeing Kevin Harvick in the #29 Budweiser car are but a few I can think of right off the top of my head.  NASCAR fans are use to these kind of changes, but it doesn’t mean that we won’t all be confused during the first couple of races as to who is who out there!

Even with all the changes I can’t wait for the season to get underway.  I sit her and wait and wait for the activities in Daytona to get underway. Let’s go racing…soon!

-Amy 

Read More from Amy Marbach at Amy's Bad Groove

Photo credit: Roger Smith