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Here’s how the points reset works when the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ begins Sept. 16 at Chicagoland Speedway. Each of the 12 qualifiers begins the 10-race competition with 2,000 points.

The top-10 qualifiers then are awarded three bonus points for each victory. Example, based on current standings (locked in drivers):

Jimmie Johnson (three wins) would start the Chase with 2,009 points, Greg Biffle (two wins) 2,006 points and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (one win) 2,003 points.

The two Wild Card qualifiers receive no bonus points regardless of how many times they have won during the regular season.

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Biffle Wins To Become Third Standings Leader In As Many Races
Uneasy is the head that wears the crown. Greg Biffle is the third different driver to lead the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings in as many races. Biffle’s second victory of the season Sunday at Michigan International Speedway is worth three additional bonus points to the standings reset when the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ begins on Sept. 16 at Chicagoland Speedway.

“GREG BIFFLE: Well, I know that a lot of people don’t expect us to win the championship, don’t expect us to compete for the title. I don’t care what they say or who they want to talk about or what they talk about. We will be a factor when it comes down to Homestead, I promise you that.”

Five drivers among the current top 10 have won two or more races. Jimmie Johnson, who lost the victory, three Chase bonus points and the standings lead when his engine failed six laps short of the finish in Michigan, has three wins and nine bonus points. So do Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart. Biffle and 10th-place Denny Hamlin also have won twice with three races remaining in the Race to the Chase.

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Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 gives four competitors the opportunity to clinch a top-10 spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™. The current top four in NASCAR Sprint Cup standings – Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. – can lock themselves into the post season by leaving Michigan with a lead of at least 145 points over the 11th-place driver with three races remaining in the Race to the Chase. Biffle, who trails Johnson by a single point, is the only one of the four failing to make the Chase a year ago.

Continue reading “Top Four Cup Series Drivers Can Clinch ‘Chase’ Spots In Michigan”

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A third-place finish at Watkins Glen International has placed Jimmie Johnson in the championship lead for the ninth consecutive season, marking the longest streak since the current position-based points structure went into effect in 1975.

Johnson was 37th in the standings following a 42nd-place finish in February’s Daytona 500. He last led the points nearly one year ago following the Sept. 6 Advocare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Johnson, Tony Stewart and Brad Keselowski remain the top contenders for the No. 1 seed for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™. Each has three victories worth nine bonus points that would be added to a base of 2,000 points when the standings are reset following the Sept. 8 Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.