The NASCAR Points system has gone under many changes during its history. From the Winston Cup format, to the original Chase, to the modern day Playoffs. Let’s take a deep dive into what the NASCAR Playoffs would look like under a couple of alternate points formats thanks to a few Internet fans of NASCAR.
The NASCAR Twitter page NASCAR Winston Cup Series Standings, has painstakingly kept track of the NASCAR points standings under the normal Winston Cup Series points format. Here is how the Playoff standings would look under the current win-and-you’re in format with no stage points. Those already in the Playoffs with a win are in bold
The two biggest changes come at the top of the points standings. Kyle Busch sits as the points leader in this scenario, while the real life points leader, William Byron, is down in fifth place. The bottom of the Playoff bubble also changed some with Bubba Wallace in the Playoffs in this scenario bumping out Michael McDowell, who sits 40 points out in 19th in this scenario.
A couple of changes in the middle include Kyle Larson being 11th in this scenario versus being eighth in real life, while Denny Hamlin is ninth in this scenario versus sixth in real life. Joey Logano also benefits in this scenario with Logano gaining two positions from 10th to eighth.
This comes from Steub on NASCAR Reddit, where they keep track of how the Cup Series standings would work based on Formula One points. This system has 25 points for first, 18 for second, and so on until only one point for 10th place. Here is how the Playoffs would look in that scenario with the race winners in bold.
The winners are the ones who are highly rewarded in this instance, however, two major shakeups occur around the bubble. Chase Elliott goes from outside of the Playoffs to well inside of the Playoffs. He replaces Kevin Harvick who drops to 17th, five points out of the Playoffs.
Other swaps include Alex Bowman who replaces Daniel Suarez now 16 points out in 20th in this scenario. Bubba Wallace replaces Michael McDowell, who now sits in 24th in this scenario 21 points out of the Playoffs. Talk about some major changes.
For this, we have to thank TheRealCheeeser00 on NASCAR Reddit, who has kept track of how NASCAR would look using Mario Kart Points. This system going from 15 points for first all the way down to one point for 12th. How would the Playoffs look in this scenario with the drivers who have already won in bold?
This points system obviously rewards drivers who finish up front as points are only awarded to the top-12 drivers. The biggest change is Chase Elliott, who currently sits well outside of the top-16, ends up in 11th more than one race in the Playoff grid thanks to some great up-front finishes. Alex Bowman also sits well inside of the Playoffs in this scenario as opposed to on the outside looking in in real life.
So, what happened to Michael McDowell and Daniel Suarez? Suarez sits tied with Bubba Wallace in 17th, five points behind Bowman. McDowell sits in 19th 11 points outside of the Playoffs.
If nothing else, what this shows is how different that NASCAR would look depending on how NASCAR would go about their points system. Different points systems prioritize different things, and it shows how NASCAR would look under more unique circumstances.
