[WestCoastGal]

Thanks for the scoop. Is there anywhere I can find how the points system works? It just seems so complicated.

[steveegg]

NASCAR's own explanation here. Short version:

• Qualifying for the pole for a race (assuming it's not rained out - no bonus points are awarded then) gets you 5 bonus points. Since it's already added to the total on qualifying day, you won't see it as part of the bonus in the race results (NormsRevenge takes this from NASCAR.com).
• Leading at least one lap during a race gets you 5 bonus points.
• Leading the most laps during a race gets you 5 more bonus points.
• Points by position (the laps-led bonus points are added to these):

  1st-175
  2nd-170
  3rd-165
  4th-160
  5th-155
  6th-150
  7th-146
  8th-142
  9th-138
  10th-134
  11th-130
  12th-127
  13th-124
  14th-121
  15th-118
  16th-115
  17th-112
  18th-109
  19th-106
  20th-103
  21st-100
  22nd-97
  23rd-94
  24th-91
  25th-88
  26th-85
  27th-82
  28th-79
  29th-76
  30th-73
  31st-70
  32nd-67
  33rd-64
  34th-61
  35th-58
  36th-55 (last in the trucks)
  37th-52
  38th-49
  39th-46
  40th-43
  41st-40
  42nd-37
  43rd-34

Hopefully, now you know that when one of us says, "Driver X stays out to get 5 bonus points", he's led his first lap of the day.

Owners' team points, used to set the starting grid when qualifying is rained out and to help determine who gets provisionals (PLEASE don't ask about provisionals), are awarded much the same way, but there's 2 differences. First, owners' points are given even if a team doesn't qualify for a race (the team with 44th-fastest car gets 31 owners' points, and it decreases by 3 until it hits 1). Second, the owners' points stays with the team, while the driver's points follows the driver (biggest example is out of the Busch series, where the #21 RCR/Payday Chevy shared by Johnny Sauter and Kevin Harvick has the most owners' points while Sauter (who drives the #43 Curb/Channellock Chevy when Harvick is Busch-whacking) is 7th in the drivers' standings).