CONCORD, N.C. – With Chase Elliott tied for the points lead entering Sunday’s Daytona 500, it seemed like a good time for a refresher on how points will be awarded in the 2017 season.
Starting with the end-of-race points, the race winner will receive 40 points, with second place earning 35 points, third place 34 and so on until places 36 through 40 all receive one point.
The race winner will also receive five playoff bonus points. Playoff points accumulate throughout the season and are added to a driver’s total once the postseason starts should he make the playoffs. They will carry over throughout the playoffs from the Round of 16 to the Round of 12 and the Round of 8. They do not transfer to the Championship 4 round, racing for the title in Homestead-Miami Speedway.
New to this season is the stage-based format of the races, and those early stages now provide another opportunity for drivers to earn points.
Drivers running inside the top 10 at the conclusion of Stage 1 and/or Stage 2 will receive additional race points. First place earns 10 points, second place nine points all the way to one point for the 10th-place competitor. Points earned in those first two stages will be added to what the drivers earn after the final checkered flag to determine their total for the race.
The winners of the first two stages will also receive one playoff bonus point.
For a refresher on the lengths of the stages in every race this season, click here.
The points-scoring started early this season, as the top 10 in each of Thursday’s Duel races earned points. First place earned 10, second place nine and so on until 10th place earned one point.
With Elliott winning the first Duel, his 10 points are tied for the most in the NASCAR Cup Series entering the Daytona 500.
The first chance to check out the new race format in action comes Sunday at 2 p.m. on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. And the Hendrick Motorsports drivers – and their crew chiefs – are excited to get it started.