DON’T MESS WITH THE POINTS SYSTEM

We haven’t heard this in a couple of years, but it’s popped up
again. What am I talking about? The fact that the Winston Cup points system doesn’t reward
the winner with more points.

You heard it a few years ago when Rusty Wallace was winning 10 races
a year but not the championship. Now, surprise… Jeff Gordon’s saying the same thing.
He’s ahead of all drivers in wins this year, but in a Tennseessan
article by Larry Woody, Gordon states that NASCAR should award more points to the winner
of a race. Gordon must have gotten to Woody, because in today’s paper, Woody has an opinion piece echoing
Gordon’s thoughts.

Naturally, if they did that, Gordon would most likely be the points
leader now, and while he’s the dominant driver on the circuit, he has a vested interest in
a change in the system.

But let’s explore the change a little more. If we gave the winner
say 200 points, and the second place driver the current 170, then chances are the
championship could be over with 6 or 7 races left in the season. NASCAR has to balance the
competition on the track with the entertainment value of that competition. If the
championship is already decided and there are still a half dozen races to go, the interest
in those races will be less, at least for those fans following the championship.

Also, we’re led to believe that a DNF is not as important in a
championship season as a win. I submit that a driver with 6 DNF’s versus a driver with
only 1 DNF hasn’t got the total job done to deserve the championship. A championship
should be based on all the races, not just the ones a driver wins.

To say that the driver who wins the most races in the year deserves
to be the champion is the equivalent of saying that the driver who leads the most laps in
a race should be the winner. Of course, that’s ludicrous.

Gordon can’t really be faulted for trying to get a rule changed in
his favor; that’s pretty much human nature. But we really should see it for that, and not
as a serious idea that should be considered.