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 That refers to the driver who scores the most points in the first
26 races used to determine who advances to the postseason Chase.
Currently, NASCAR refers to the driver ahead in points at the end of
the 26-race season merely as the "points leader."
The only incentive to be at the top of the points table after the
fall race in Richmond, Va., is relatively meager. If the points
leader does not win a race this year, for example, and 16 drivers do
win a race, he will advance to the Chase as a 17th entry. That's a
highly unlikely scenario in any season, much less this one. (Austin
Dillon, the highest ranking driver without a victory, is 83 points
behind current leader Kevin Harvick with 15 races remaining in the
regular season.)
Among drivers who have suggested the idea of a "regular season
champion" is Brad Keselowski. He suggests there's a disincentive for
drivers to earn points after winning a race in the regular season,
which automatically advances a driver to the postseason Chase.
Instead, drivers under the current system, goes this theory, are
more likely to throw caution to the wind trying to win a second
race, because each victory earns three bonus points that are carried
into the first round of the Chase. The incentive for becoming the
points leader, according to Keselowski, is a bye into the second
round of the Chase.
 This proposal sounds like one of those designed to help the drivers
and not necessarily the fans. So far, drivers making the Chase talk
incessantly about the pressure of the opening round, which begins at
the Chicagoland Speedway on Sept. 18, one week after the Richmond
round. They are very wary of a format that can wipe out a season's
work with one mistake in the first three-race elimination resulting
in a low finish. Or, one mechanical breakdown can put a driver into
the weeds.
Keselowksi suggests that NASCAR would become more like other leagues
by allowing one driver to avoid a "play in" round with a bye while
15 others battle it out in the first three races, which whittles the
field to 12 drivers. But are there unintended consequences?
First, that would put even more pressure on the remaining drivers in
the opening Round of 16. Only 11 would advance instead of 12 to
account for the bye given the points leader. The idea of a "regular
season champion" would also put drivers back into the mindset of
racing for points instead of victory, which is one of the original
reasons for going to a "win to get in" format followed by
elimination rounds, where a winner automatically advances.
Keselowski is one of the brightest as well as talented drivers in
the NASCAR garage and is a keen student of the sport. The 2012
champion for Penske Racing doesn't make any claims for coming up
with the "regular season champion" idea, rather was the first to
talk about it to journalists after conversations among his fellow
drivers.
The timing of his comments was no surprise. In last Saturday's race
at the Kansas Speedway, Keselowski was involved in a rather
spectacular accident that began when Denny Hamlin tried to make a
three-wide pass between Keselowski and Kyle Larson. Both Keselowksi
and Hamlin went into a "synchronized spin" without even touching, an
accident that ruined Larson's chances of winning his first race and
collected other cars in the closing laps.
If Hamlin had a reason to be more mindful of points, would he have
attempted this aggressive move late in the race to try to get a
second victory and three more bonus points?
Fans never vote in a single block, but I suspect if there was a poll
most fans would prefer to see a championship system that puts a
premium on winning races. A system where points come back into play
as an incentive with a major bonus attached defeats the idea of
putting a premium on winning.
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In the first two seasons of the elimination format, the incentive to
win in order to advance has created a good deal of fan excitement.
There is concern in some quarters, in fact, that fans are more
interested in buying tickets to the final 12 races of the season and
preliminaries to the Chase in August than in buying tickets earlier
in the season. In any case, the Chase format has put an emphasis on
winning and gambling to get a victory that generates excitement -
even when it means a big crash like in Kansas. At least Hamlin was
not content to ride out the final laps.
There is already a provision for making the Chase on points. If
fewer than 16 drivers win a race, those with the most points are
added until the field is complete. It provides an incentive to the
underdog and also creates some interesting strategies as the regular
season winds down. Go for a victory - or hope that points will be
enough to get in?
A bonus for the "regular season champion" could well add another
layer of interest to who comes out on top of the points standings at
the end of 26 races. Perhaps a three-point bonus given to the points
leader to carry into the opening Round of 16 would be appropriate.
That's equal to the bonus for each victory a driver wins in the
regular season that is carried into the opening round of the Chase.
And winning the "regular season championship" might well come down
to winning a race to get the four-bonus points available to each
race winner during the regular season - three points for winning and
a fourth for leading at least one lap.
As it is, NASCAR's championship has already been watered down a bit
by allowing a driver to be eligible for the Chase without competing
in every race. The rulings allowing Tony Stewart, who has missed
eight races this season, and Kyle Busch, who missed 11 races last
season, to be eligible for the Chase by finishing in the Top 30 in
points certainly stands in sharp contrast to previous champions who
drove every race.
But those NASCAR rulings are, at least, consistent with the idea
race winners should be the ones who compete for a championship.
Stewart will still have to win a race to make the Chase this year
and the same was true last year for eventual champion Busch, who won
the season finale at the Homestead-Miami Speedway to claim the title
in addition to four other victories earned in just 25 races. His
victories during the regular season, in fact, gave him enough bonus
points to advance past the first round of the Chase last year.
Any bonus to the points leader after 26 races should continue this
new tradition of an emphasis on winning races. Providing a bonus
that is the same as winning a race could well accomplish that goal
in addition to giving fans one more element to pay attention to as
the regular season draws to a close at Richmond.
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