NASCAR New points system to return next year

Five drivers have a chance in the final race to win the Nextel Cup championship.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- NASCAR chairman Brian France will keep the new points system in place for next year, satisfied that the closest championship race in history is proof that the 10-race playoff structure works better than expected.
Five drivers head into Sunday's finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway separated by 82 points, creating a one-race shootout to crown the Nextel Cup champion.
"The new points system has been wonderful, it's created interest and a scenario that was unthinkable under the old system," France told The Associated Press.
"Obviously, we were hoping to create drama all the way down to the last lap of the last race. That was our preference under the old system, and it just wasn't happening."
The last time a points race was this close heading into the final event was 1992, when six drivers were separated by 113 points.
Davey Allison went into the finale with a 30-point lead over Alan Kulwicki, and Kulwicki passed him and won the title in the last race.
Since then, the championship races have been snoozers.
Title clinched
Matt Kenseth clinched his title the week before the finale last season, and had more or less locked it up weeks before then. Although other drivers were mathematically eligible to catch him, it would have taken a total collapse or an injury for Kenseth to lose the title.
So France entered his first season as NASCAR chairman with a radical new 10-race playoff system, in which the top 10 drivers at the end of 26 events had their point totals reset and were the only ones eligible for the championship.
The system has had opponents since it was announced, and critics are still finding faults. The biggest complaint was the theory that one bad finish would ruin a driver's title hopes.
France said Jimmie Johnson has proved that wrong.
After dropping to ninth in the standings with six races remaining, Johnson has used four victories to pull into second place, 18 points behind leader Kurt Busch.
"Everybody thought Jimmie Johnson was out, he had three bad races and everybody said you couldn't have one," France said. "Well, nobody thought about the way to climb back into races. That is to win. That is exactly what we wanted."
Forget about it
So forget about a points system within a points system, which is what driver Jeremy Mayfield has lobbied for.
His title hopes were crushed in the first playoff race when he was caught in an accident Robby Gordon intentionally caused. Because all 10 Chase drivers are scored on the same points system as everyone else, he got points for finishing 35th in that event.
He argued he should have gotten points for finishing ninth out of the 10 Chase drivers.
France listened to the idea, but said it isn't under consideration.
France is particularly pleased with what the Chase has done for television ratings. Part of the reason he wanted the new system was to create drama that could match up with the NFL and baseball playoffs.
Although NBC's ratings didn't move at first -- the first race was down 8 percent from last year, and the third race was down 2 percent -- it's been a steady climb since. The race in Atlanta three weeks ago was up 21 percent from last year, and NASCAR expects the Miami finale to post similar numbers now that there is a five-driver battle.