The Points

                       The NASCAR Winston Cup series stars race every week towards the
                       year-end championship. But how do they determine who the Champion
                       is at the end of the year?

                       Every race on the schedule is worth the same amount of points (except
                       the Bud Shootout and "The Winston" that are not worth any points at
                       all). Winning the Daytona 500 scores exactly the same number of points
                       that winning in Watkins Glen does. This is why it is so important for the
                       racers to run hard every week, there are no "unimportant" races during
                       the season.

                       After every race points are assigned as follows..

                                             Finish
                                                  Points
                                             1st
                                                  175
                                             2nd
                                                  170
                                             3rd
                                                  165
                                             4th
                                                  160
                                             5th
                                                  155
                                             6th
                                                  150
                                             7th
                                                  146
                                             8th
                                                  142
                                             9th
                                                  138
                                             10th
                                                  134
                                             11th
                                                  130
                                             12th
                                                  127
 

                       ... and so on subtracting three points per position all the way back
                       through 43rd position which is worth thirty-four points.

                       Bonus Points

                       Bonus points are awarded as follows:

                       Five bonus points are awarded to any driver that leads any lap. An
                       additional five bonus points are awarded to the driver that leads the most
                       laps.

                       Example #1

                       If you win the race and lead the most laps you would receive 185 points,
                       175 for winning, five bonus points for leading a lap and five bonus points
                       for leading the most laps.

                       Example #2

                       But what happens if the second place finisher is the driver who leads
                       the most laps? The winner gets 175 points for winning, plus five bonus
                       points for leading at least one lap (the last lap) for a total of 180 points.
                       The second place finisher gets 170 plus five for leading a lap, plus five
                       more for leading the most laps for a total of 180.

                       It is entirely possible that the winner of the race and the second place
                       finisher can both earn 180 points! Some people in the sport think that the
                       system needs to be changed to reward a driver more for winning than
                       for being consistent.