So many people hate the idea of the Playoffs, that “win and you’re in” format. All across social media, there are complaints after complaints. So, let’s look at the points. Everyone likes points, right? Forget about resetting the points after Darlington. Here are the actual NASCAR Cup Series points standings following Watkins Glen in New York with no reset and no moving up 16 positions for a win. None of that. Just good old-fashioned points build-ups.
Image: Patrick Vallely
| place | driver | points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tyler Reddick | 905 |
| 2 | Chase Elliott | 890 |
| 3 | Kyle Larson | 888 |
| 4 | Christopher Bell | 840 |
| 5 | Ryan Blaney | 810 |
| 6 | William Byron | 806 |
| 7 | Denny Hamlin | 784 |
| 8 | Brad Keselowski | 771 |
| 9 | Ty Gibbs | 747 |
| 10 | Alex Bowman | 445 |
| 11 | Ross Chastain | 739 |
| 12 | Chris Buescher | 731 |
| 13 | Martin Truex Jr | 727 |
| 14 | Bubba Wallace | 697 |
| 15 | Joey Logano | 692 |
| 16 | Kyle Busch | 624 |
| 17 | Daniel Suarez | 619 |
| 18 | Chase Briscoe | 615 |
| 19 | Austin Cindric | 589 |
| 20 | Todd Gilliland | 531 |
| 21 | Carson Hocevar | 526 |
| 22 | Michael McDowell | 513 |
| 23 | Josh Berry | 481 |
| 24 | Noah Gragson | 460 |
| 25 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 454 |
| 26 | Ryan Preece | 442 |
| 27 | Corey LaJoie | 414 |
| 28 | Erik Jones | 411 |
| 29 | Austin Dillon | 408 |
| 30 | Daniel Hemric | 406 |
| 31 | Justin Haley | 399 |
| 32 | Zane Smith | 378 |
| 33 | John Nemechek | 375 |
| 34 | Harrison Burton | 346 |
I have been a NASCAR fan since the 1960s. I like the current system. Winning is most important. The only thing I would change is stage racing only giving points for 1st to fifth.