2004 NASCAR New Rules and Comments - The Chase

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The new NEXTEL Cup points system came a year too late for Jimmie Johnson. But how he finished out the '03 season gives him confidence for the final charge at the '04 title. "We've had two great seasons and have been building for a championship," he says. "Hopefully this will be the year for us."

If the much-maligned '04 points system had been in effect a year ago, Johnson would be NASCAR's defending champion, and Matt Kenseth, the '03 title holder, would have ended last season in Seventh Place.

Now, Johnson and teammate/team owner Jeff Gordon both have another legitimate shot at placing a sixth championship trophy in the Hendrick Motorsports lobby. Johnson and his No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet have spent much of the '04 season at the front end of the Nextel Cup points charts. Gordon has been chasing his protg, with his Dupont Chevrolet not far off Johnson's rear bumper. "But it doesn't matter a whole lot," says Gordon. "The new points system changes everything."

"Anyone who can finish the first 26 races in the Top 10 has an almost equal chance of winning the championship," adds Gordon, who with four championships is the most successful active driver in the series.

That means Gordon and Johnson could end up fighting one another for the title when the season comes to a close in November at Homestead. "That's how I'd like to see the season end," Gordon says. "It would be great if we could end up in a battle for the championship."

NASCAR wouldn't mind it either. But there are no certainties in racing.

"As a driver, certainly I want to win the championship," Gordon adds. "But I want to see Jimmie do well. He and the team have worked hard this year and they deserve to be rewarded."

The points system may be different this year, but the goal is a familiar one. Rick Hendrick's drivers have won five Winston Cup championships in 20 years in NASCAR's top series.

Johnson feels good about his chances. "The feelings I have are based on the old point system," he says. "I fall back to last season and the last 10 races and [how we] performed as a team . . . I feel that based on our races this year at those [final 10] tracks and what we did last year, we should be one of the teams competing for the championship."

Will they win? There's no way to tell, and any points lead today means almost nothing when the final 10-race sprint begins in what NASCAR has named the "Chase for the Championship."

The Possibilities
What's the worst possible scenario for NASCAR in the first year of its new points system? What if Dale Earnhardt Jr., Nextel Cup's most popular driver, continues a strong performance through the first 26 races of the season-maybe even building up the kind of lead Kenseth had in 2003-and then the drive falls apart in the last 10 races? Or, what if an upstart like rookie Kasey Kahne catches fire during those final 10 races and snatches the first Nextel Cup trophy away from the veterans?

Think it can't happen? Think again. NASCAR's new points system tosses all tradition under the bus when the teams leave Richmond in September.

Here is how the system will work: At the end of the first 26 races, NASCAR will take the Top 10 in points and create a special structure just for them. Also included will be any driver outside the Top 10 who is within 400 points of the leader, but a glance at points totals from previous seasons indicates that scenario is unlikely.

Under the new system, the leader will begin the final 10 races with 5,050 points. The total will drop by five for each place until the 10th driver will begin "the second season" with 5,005 points. From that moment on, any points they score will be added to the new totals and everyone else will race for 11th place.

The new system puts a premium on doing well during those final 10 races by making the field nearly level for the top drivers. The 45-points difference is smaller than the spread between finishing First and Seventh in any single race.