The 2017 Winston Cup Series: Who the "real" champion is

A shot of the "classic" days in the Winston Cup series... Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, and Bill Elliott make up a few of the legends in this 1998 race

I’m a NASCAR fan, an old school one too. Not old as in ancient, but old as in knowing the sport used to be better. Not just the drivers, but the common features that have fallen by the wayside. It’s kind of like enjoying hockey fights, or knowing the value of a major in golf (and not the Fedex Cup). “Because we’ve always done it that way” doesn’t work well in modern day politics, but to me it’s always made sense in sports.

                I became a NASCAR fan in 2001, back when it was still the “Winston Cup Series.” Since the addition of “The Chase”, essentially playoffs for NASCAR, things have gone downhill. No racing back to the line… Green-white-checkered finishes… The overtime line... Stage racing… The list goes on.

Me in front of the turn three stands at Michigan International Speedway in 2004. The stands have since been torn down, partly due to falling attendance.

But my main beef is using the Chase, and nowadays, bracket style elimination, to determine a champion. If you’re unfamiliar, NASCAR used a points system for decades that awarded consistency all season. Unlike ball sports, there was no “playoffs.” Your regular season champion was the “champion.” It meant running well just about every race. NASCAR only tainted their definition of a champion by adding the Chase in 2004. Come September, this made it possible for any driver in the top 10, 12, or now 16 in points, to have a shot at the championship.

Jimmie Johnson ended up winning five straight titles under the Chase format between 2006 and 2010. Under the old rules, he would have only won two of them. If the “classic” rules had been in place all this time, Jeff Gordon would have won seven championships, tying him with legends Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. Fast forward to 2017, his former teammate Jimmie Johnson holds that honor (under the old points system, it would be the other way around).

It’s 2017. Plenty of people are chanting that Donald Trump is “not my president.” So it’s only fair that I can say “not my champion.” Kyle Busch for example, broke his leg a day before the 2015 daytona 500, and missed about half the season. With a win at Sonoma (Sears Point) he qualified for the chase, then captured the title by winning at Homestead. Under the classic system, he would’ve come in 20^th for the year. Not my champion!

                I decided to take it upon myself and keep track this year, the OLD way. The Winston Cup way. Online, Jayski had been doing this for years on its “Chaseology” page, race by race, updating what the classic points standings would look like, as opposed to the Chase standings/grid. So far Jayski hasn’t done this for 2017, so I decided to go for it.

                My logic follows the 2016 standings structure, with a full 40-car field, 1^st place gets 40 points, last place gets 1 point. Winning gets you three extra points, leading a lap gets you an extra point, and leading the most laps gets you two points. Obviously, with this year’s fields of 37-38 cars on occasion, last place doesn’t always get only one point (One difference is that the 2017 points system only awards one point to anyone 36^th or worse). Stage points and playoff points don’t count. Also, this doesn’t use the “classic” point structure used from 1975 to 2003, I may get to that in the future. But regardless, we’re measuring consistency. Plus, point scoring from 45 to 1, rather than 185 to 34, is a lot easier to understand and calculate. I do factor in Joey Logano’s “encumbered” win at Richmond, where he was docked 25 points.

Here’s a look at the official 2017 standings, after the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. After about half the season, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. are dominating the field so far. (Click on the image for a closer look)

Official Cup standings from nascar.com

Now let’s take these standings, and switch to the “classic” point structure. 

"Classic" Cup standings so far

     Gone are Truex Jr’s 11 stage wins, and the gap between the top 5 drivers is considerably smaller. Also notable, is that without the Chase grid, winning a race doesn’t guarantee a shot at the championship. Therefore a driver like Austin Dillon has no shot at the title, despite his win in the Coke 600.

     Some of the results aren’t a surprise. Dale Earnhardt Jr’s poor showing this season has him in 24^th place. Danica’s awful luck (and occasional bad driving) puts her in 30^th overall. Jeffrey Earnhardt comes in a lowly 37^th place, essentially last among drivers who have completed most, or all of the schedule so far.

     It also brings surprises, especially seeing Eric Jones and Ryan Blaney in 18^th and 19^th. Both young drivers have run great all season, but compared to fellow young gun Chase Elliot (9^th) haven’t put up the best finishes. It also shows that some drivers are better than most would give credit for. Based on watching this year’s NASCAR coverage, who would’ve thought Daniel Suarez would be 14^th?

Kyle Larson salutes the fans at Michigan, after winning the June race last month. I watched from turn one

     One thing is clear, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. are dominating. These two drivers are good week in, and week out. How the rest of the season plays out remains to be seen. Stay tuned.