The evolution of NASCAR’s championship format over the years

NASCAR’s championship format has just undergone its latest change, but it’s far from the first time the Sanctioning Body has tweaked the way it crowns a champion.

At some point, stock car racing was awarding points based on prize money, race lengths, or even laps completed. In the modern age, the Chase or the playoffs have existed in some form since 2004, breaking the season up into parts and create unpredictable outcomes.

Without getting too into the weeds of every little change, here’s a simplified rundown of each system that NASCAR has utilized over its 77-year history, and how it has evolved since 1949.

1949: It’s all about the money

Vintage car of Red Byron in the Fan Zone

In the early days of the sport, only the top 14 finishers scored points for most races, with the points awarded based on the prize money. If you think the modern systems have been confusing, try to imagine a points table that changed weekly. Winning a race that awarded $500 was worth as much as finishing 14th in a race that awarded $25,000, such as the Southern 500 at Darlington. This system existed for some time, but with changes.

1952: Altering the money-based points format

Points being attached to cash prizes continued until 1967, but in 1952, the system was altered to reflect growing field sizes and bigger purses. Points were awarded back to at least 25th place, and 200 points for the winner of a race paying $4,000 (or less) was the lowest rung.

1968: Points based on race length, not prize money

Starting in 1968, the points awarded were now based on race length, not prize money. For races at 250 miles or shorter, the winner earned 50 points. For races between 250 and 399 miles, the winner earned 100 points. For races at 400 miles or longer, the winner earned 150 points. This new system also awarded points all the way back to 50th place. This continued for three years without changes.

1972 and 1973: Two systems at once

As NASCAR’s top level of competition became the Winston Cup Series in 1971 and entered the modern age, the championship format changed with it. In 1972 and 1973, there were actually two points systems. The primary system awarded points based on finishing position, no longer determined by race lengths or purse money. The race winner earned 100 points, and it dropped by two points with every position down to 50th.

At the same time, drivers earned additional points for the distance they covered during each race. For every lap completed, the driver would earn 1/4th of a point at tracks shorter than one mile, half a point at tracks one mile in length, and continuing upward to 2.5-mile superspeedways where drivers earned 1.25 points per lap completed.

For 1973, the system was altered slightly to award 125 points to the race winner while keeping the rest of it the same, adding a bit more emphasis to winning.

1974: Do the math

NASCAR changed the system yet again in 1974, but this new format only lasted a single year … and you can probably guess why after learning about it. It took the purse money, multiplied it by the driver’s total number of starts, and divided that by 1,000. Even next to the playoffs it was perhaps the most confusing system ever used. The points awarded also changed with every start, since the number of starts played a crucial role in the math.

1975: The Latford system decides the full-season champion

Richard Petty congratulates Dale Earnhard on his seventh championship

Finally, NASCAR found some consistency in 1975. The Latford system, developed by Bob Latford, awarded 170 points to the race winner, and dropped five points per position down to sixth place. It then dropped four points for every position down to 11th place, and then three points per position down to last place.

The points system even survived the early iterations of the playoffs and was in use through the 2010 season. The only change was in regards to points for the race winner, upping it to 180 points in 2004 and 185 points in 2007.

2004: The Chase for the Cup Version 1.0

The final top-10 for the

While the Latford system continued to be in use through the 2010, NASCAR introduced the Chase for the Cup in 2004, resetting the points partway through the season. It followed the final season with a full-season championship where Matt Kenseth won a single race in March and then used consistency to capture the crown.

With the Chase, the standings were reset for the top ten drivers in points after Race #26. There were incremental five-point drops between each driver to recognize their performance during the regular season, with the No. 1 seed granted 50 points.

2007: Expanding the playoff field

The playoff field was expanded from ten drivers to 12, all while still using the Latford system. This version of the Chase also added an extra ten bonus points for every race win, which was added to a driver’s total after the points reset following Race #26.

2011: Introducing wildcards and abandoning the Latford system

For the first time since 1974, NASCAR did not use the Latford system to award points in 2011. This also followed Jimmie Johnson’s unprecedented five-year run of championships. They came up with a new system with hopes of simplifying things, awarding a single point per position. This version of the Chase also introduced two wildcards, which brought in two drivers between 11th and 20th in the standings with the most wins. A driving force behind this was the 2010 season of Jamie McMurray, where he won three races including the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 – but missed the playoffs.

In the first year with this system, Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards actually tied for the championship with Stewart winning via the tiebreaker.

The final year of this system was 2013, and featured the SpinGate controversy, with Michael Waltrip Racing causing an intentional caution to try and secure Martin Truex Jr’s spot inside the playoff field. The fallout from that led NASCAR to add a 13th spot to the Chase, bringing Jeff Gordon back into the title hunt.

2014: Radical overhaul with eliminations and multiple rounds

The four drivers for the 2014 Sprint Cup: Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Ryan Newman, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford, Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet

Enter eliminations. In 2014, NASCAR dramatically changed the championship, throwing the ten-race Chase for the Cup aside in favor of something entirely new. To put it as simply as possible, NASCAR cut the final ten races up into four rounds. The playoffs now included 16 drivers, including a ‘win-and-you’re in’ feature where any driver inside the top 30 in points could win a race and automatically secure a playoff spot. If there were less than 16 winners, then the remaining spots would be filled by the top points-scorers. There were also bonus points for race winners as well, which were applied at reset. As for the playoffs, each three-race round featured resets, eliminating the bottom four drivers in points (unless they won one of the three races). This continued until only four remained, pushing them into a winner-take-all finale with points becoming irrelevant – the top finisher of those four in the season finale would become the champion.

This format was all about winning, and yet the first champion was nearly a winless driver as Ryan Newman ended the season second in the championship to Kevin Harvick. This format also triggered chaos throughout the rounds, including a massive brawl between Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon at Texas Motor Speedway.

2017: The addition of stage points and playoff bonus points

The format remained the same, but the points around it changed a bit. NASCAR introduced stage breaks and with them, stage points. Most races were split into three stages with up to ten points being awarded to the top-ten runners at the end of Stage 1 and Stage 2. This forced drivers to race hard from the start, and gave drivers the opportunity to limit damage from good days that didn’t end well. These stages also awarded a single playoff point to the ‘winner’ that would be added to their total when it became time for the reset.

These playoff bonus points were offered to race winners (now increased to five per win), but also the top ten drivers in the standings at the end of the regular season. The regular season ‘champion’ would earn 15 of these bonus points.

While there were minor changes in the years that followed, this continued to be the foundational format for determining a champion until the end of the 2025 season. They even dropped the top 30 rule, so even a driver last in points could win their way into the playoffs. Growing disdain for this system as the perceived ‘deserving’ champion fell short in the one-race finale and frustration over its unpredictability pushed NASCAR to overhaul its championship once again ahead of the 2026 season.

2026: The Chase returns, but with a larger field

2026 version of The Chase announcement

NASCAR’s new format isn’t actually that new, as it’s a return to the ten-race postseason we became accustomed to between 2004 and 2013. However, there are no win and you’re in wildcards, and the field will remain large at 16 drivers. However, it will simply be the top 16 drivers in points who qualify for the Chase.

NASCAR also increased the award for race winners up to 55 points, ensuring no driver can score more than them (via stage points) and putting a 20-point gap between first and second.

Additionally, the reset after Race #26 will not be based on bonus points accumulated during the regular season, but predetermined figured based on points position. For example, the No. 1 seed will have a 100-point advantage over the No. 16 seed. There are also 25 points between first and second at the start of the Chase, before dropping ten points further to third and then five points between each position.