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NASCAR's formula for change gets mixed reviews

CONCORD, N.C. — NASCAR's decision to change its points system for the 2007 season was made in an effort to put a greater emphasis on winning.

But most people in the sport say the changes will result in teams taking chances with pit strategy late in a race — no-tire pit stops and gambles with fuel — and that fans shouldn't expect to see wholesale changes in the way drivers race.

"It's going to give the winners more points, but I don't think it's going to change the people who win," Matt Kenseth said. "I go back to where we've run second at Indy a couple of times. It could have paid a 2,000-point bonus to win that race, and we still couldn't have won it. We were running as hard as we could to run second."

Kenseth thinks the new format will become more of a talking point during the season instead of having a major impact on the competition. In addition to expanding the playoff field for the last 10 races from 10 drivers to 12, NASCAR also will seed the field based on the number of victories during the 26-race regular season. Race winners also will get five extra points for wins throughout the 36-race schedule.

"If you can pull off a win, you'll be like, 'Yeah, if I make the Chase I get an extra 10 points going in,'" Kenseth said.

Kasey Kahne, who made the Chase for the first time last season, would have been seeded first under the new system. He's not against the points change, but he said adding two drivers to the playoffs could take away some of the excitement in the final races of the regular season.

In the first three seasons of the Chase, the battle for the 10th and final Chase slot provided some unexpected mid-season excitement because one or two drivers ended up just a few points shy.

But Kahne said with the field expanded to 12, all of the sport's best points-earners will have pulled away from the rest of the field by the time the circuit runs the final race of the regular season at Richmond in September.

"I would say going into Richmond you're not going to have the closeness we had last year," Kahne said. "The drama is going to be in the Chase this year, not getting to the Chase."

But adding two spots gives some drivers hope.

"If we run 15th [in points] all year, and it comes down to four or five races before the Chase, we've got a shot," said Reed Sorenson, who finished 24th last season. "Obviously we'll have a better shot with 12 being in, instead of 10."

Speedway Motorsports chairman Bruton Smith agrees with NASCAR officials who say the sport needs to place more emphasis on winning, but he said the change can't be made by tinkering with the points system.

He said most of the money that is paid to drivers finishing at the rear of the pack — last place paid from $57,537 to $281,682 last year — should instead be paid to the winner, increasing the winner's pay to $1 million or so per race.

"Then the fans get involved. They'll want to know who won," Smith said. "The emphasis has to be on winning, not points."

Rick Minter writes for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.