Nextel Cup points may be tweaked NASCAR pondering ‘Chase’ field increase

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LOUDON, N.H. – NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France has made it known that the current Nextel Cup points format will be tweaked for next season.

A decision on exactly how it will be tweaked remains to be decided.

The championship used to be decided based upon the points accrued over the 36-race schedule. When Matt Kenseth had the 2003 points title locked up early despite making just one visit to Victory Lane, the NASCAR hierarchy decided to change the format so there would be drama all the way to the final race.

So, in 2004, only the top 10 drivers in points after 26 races and any other drivers within 400 points of the leader could compete for the title over the last 10 races.

Their points were restructured so there was just a five-point gap between the leader and second-place driver and so on down the line among the championship qualifiers.

Opinions vary on what should be tweaked.

“It’s tough to be in the middle of a championship run, have a [significant] lead and have it taken away from you [for the final 10 races],” said veteran Nextel Cup driver and 2000 Busch series champion Jeff Green. “But it has also made our sport a lot more exciting. To add cars to the chase, to put 15-20 cars into it, wouldn’t be fair to a guy who has dominated the series [up to that point].

“If you’re a championship contender, you should be in the top 10 when 26 races are over. If you’re not, you’ve got to work on your program to make it better,” he added.

Green is among several who feels there should be more bonus points awarded to the winner.

“It should have been like that a long time ago. Having a bonus for poles would be good, too,” he said . “Little things like that would enhance it. But putting more cars in would be the wrong thing to do.”

He also said they need to come up with some “theory where one bad race out of those final 10 isn’t going to kill you.”

Team owner Jack Roush said he would like to see them expand it so the top 10 drivers and “those within 500 or 550 points of the leader” would be eligible. He added they could also consider restructuring the points after the first five races of the chase so there would be only a 50-point gap between the leader and 10th-place contender.

Team owner Ray Evernham said, “I’d like to see more of a race between the top 10 guys rather than having all of the others [involved]. Right now, if you’re in the top 10 and get knocked out of a race, you go all the way to 40th [finish in the race]. I would like them to have their own little points deal.

“You’re racing 42 other guys but you’re really racing the other guys who are in the top 10,” Evernham added. “If you drop out on the first lap, you’re 43rd on race day but you’d finish 10th among the teams in the chase [so you wouldn’t be hurt as much points-wise].”

Cup and Busch driver Clint Bowyer said he likes it just the way it is.

Gardiner’s Scott Maxim, an engine tuner for Hendrick Motorsports, is staunchly in favor of awarding more points to the winner.

His feeling stems from 2004 when his Hendrick driver, Jimmie Johnson, won four of the final 10 races but lost out to Kurt Busch, who had just one win among the final 10.

Some terrible finishes proved costly for Johnson.

Busch was more consistent.

“When someone wins 40 percent of the races, which is such a tall order, he shouldn’t be beaten by somebody with one win,” Maxim said. “When you talk about playoffs, it’s about winning. Theoretically, somebody with four wins and a couple of top fives could be beaten by somebody who doesn’t get a top five if the guy with four wins has a couple of [did not finishes]. That doesn’t make any sense.”

He also agrees with Evernham in favoring a system where the drivers in the chase are “racing more against each other than the entire field.”

That would require a separate points race between the chase contenders. For example, the top finisher among the points contenders could receive 50 points, the second highest finisher would receive 45 even though he might finish 12 places behind the top finisher, and so on down the line.

That would prevent a driver who has an early DNF from being eliminated very early in the chase.

Team owner Bill Davis said having a separate points system for the contenders “probably would make sense but I think the big challenge they have is to make sure we don’t take away from the guys who aren’t in the chase. We’re still here and we still have sponsors who spend a lot of money.”

Former Nextel Cup great and current TV analyst Benny Parsons said in addition to the winner receiving more points, “I’d like to see the top five [overall, including Cup and non-Cup contenders] receive more points. If a guy in the chase wins the race, but cars two through five are all cars outside the chase, he’d get a 100-point advantage.

“But he won. We’ve got to make sure winners [are rewarded]. Right now, under the rules, consistency pays off more than wins.”

Craven still well thought of

Davis, Roush and Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick feel Newburgh’s Ricky Craven can still be a productive racer.

Craven ran in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series for Roush last season and won a race at Martinsville, making him the 15th driver in history with wins in the Nextel Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck series.

He finished 14th in points last year.

He hasn’t landed a ride for this season.

“He’s a good guy. We didn’t put him in equipment that allowed him to show what he could really do last year,” said Roush. “He’s a good racer. He can drive.”

Davis said, “He’s a way talented guy. And he’s a good guy. It’s a shame that the truck series deal didn’t work out for him last year and he wasn’t able to show his talent.”

Hendrick, who used to be Craven’s employer, said, “I hope he gets back into racing.

“Ricky’s one of the neatest guys around. He raises money for the [bone] marrow program every year. He’s a great talent. He’s a great person. He’s one of the smartest guys I’ve met in the garage area. From working the stock market to whatever. I’d like to see him back,” Hendrick said.

Biddeford’s Richard “Slugger” Labbe, crew chief for Dale Jarrett in the Robert Yates Racing team, said he wouldn’t mind seeing Craven driving for Yates next season.

“That would be cool,” he said.

Parsons called Craven a “very good race car driver. To get back into one of NASCAR’s three top touring series, he’s got to find somebody who wants to get involved in the business and will pay him for his expertise to help build a team.”

Labbe meeting challenge

Longtime crew chief Labbe has been having what he termed a “challenging year.”

He was suspended for four races for making an illegal technical adjustment.

Jarrett is leaving after this year to join Michael Waltrip Racing and is taking his sponsor (UPS). He is running 24th in points after a 31st-place finish at the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway Sunday.

“The four-race suspension was tough. I got a little too creative and they didn’t like it. It’s part of the game,” Labbe said. “I accepted the penalty and moved on. That’s all we can do. The sport is so competitive, you try to find every advantage you can. We went for it, they didn’t like it so it’s part of the deal.”

He said he will be sorry to see Jarrett leave.

“Unfortunately Dale’s leaving and he took the sponsor with him. But that’s part of the sport. It changes every day. It’s a cruel sport. It’s a fun sport but sometimes it gets cruel.” Labbe said. “It’s amazing how one change affects a lot of people. That’s the big thing: to make sure our people are taken care of.”

He said his team intends to “bring some young kids on and race hard next year.”

He hopes to remain with Yates Racing.

“I’d love to,” said Labbe.

One of them could be Stephen Leicht, who is racing on the Busch series.

Labbe said Leicht will run the Nextel Cup race at Pocono next weekend.

“He’s a good kid. He’s done really good in our Cup cars testing. That’s a possibility. And one other kid. One day at a time. Everyone here is supporting Robert and Doug [Yates] and what they’re doing. So we’ll just keep going.”