Each driver who competes in a NASCAR Winston Cup, Busch Grand National or Craftsman Truck race is awarded championship points according to the following descending scale based on finish position. In the Winston Cup and Busch series, five additional bonus points are awarded to each driver who leads a lap and in Winston Cup only, an additional five bonus points go to the driver who leads the most laps. No points are awarded for the pole in any NASCAR series.
Place |
Points |
Place |
Points |
Place |
Points |
Place |
Points |
Place |
Points |
||||
| 1 | 175 | 11 | 130 | 21 | 100 | 31 | 70 | 41 | 40 | ||||
| 2 | 170 | 12 | 127 | 22 | 97 | 32 | 67 | 42 | 37 | ||||
| 3 | 165 | 13 | 124 | 23 | 94 | 33 | 64 | 43 | 34 | ||||
| 4 | 160 | 14 | 121 | 24 | 91 | 34 | 61 | ||||||
| 5 | 155 | 15 | 118 | 25 | 88 | 35 | 58 | ||||||
| 6 | 150 | 16 | 115 | 26 | 85 | 36 | 55 | ||||||
| 7 | 146 | 17 | 112 | 27 | 82 | 37 | 52 | ||||||
| 8 | 142 | 18 | 109 | 28 | 79 | 38 | 49 | ||||||
| 9 | 138 | 19 | 106 | 29 | 76 | 39 | 46 | ||||||
| 10 | 134 | 20 | 103 | 30 | 73 | 40 |
43 |
Based upon the best 15 races finishes: 1 point awarded to make the race (not awarded if qualifing is rained out); 10 points to highest finishing rookie, 9 for the next highest, to 1 point for the tenth finishing rookie; any top 10 finish by a rookie is awarded specific points based on finish, from 10 for first to 1 for a tenth place finish. Bonus points are awarded three times during a season, after the 10th, 20th and final race of the season as follows: 10 points to the highest rookie in the current WC points down to 1 point for the tenth highest. Points also are awarded on a subjective basis in various areas from a special rookie panel at the end of the season. The winner is awarded $25,000.
Points are awarded for the highest finish by a particular car make in the top six finishers. First place gets 9 points, second 6 points, third 4 points, fourth 3 points, fifth 2 points and sixth 1 point. Only the first car across the line for each manufacturer gets the points. For example, say that the top three cars are all Chevrolets. Chevy only gets 9 points for the first place finisher, not for all of the top three. Whatever the make of the fourth place car, the manufacturer gets 6 points. The next highest placing make gets 4 points, and so on.
Here are some of the awards and incentive programs, and how to qualify for them:
Unocal 76 Challenge ($7,600/race since last claimed)
NASCAR Winston Cup Leader Bonus ($10,000/race since last claimed)
Gatorade Front Runner ($10,000)
MCI Fast Pace Award ($5,000)
Plasti-Kote Winning Finish Award ($3,000)
True Value Man of the Race Award ($2,000)
Exide All Charged Up Award ($2,000)
Raybestos Top Stopper Award ($2,000)
Goody's Headache Award ($2,500)
Bud Pole Award ($5,000)
Fastest Second Round Qualifier ($500)
Raybestos Rookie of the Race ($1,000)
The Unocal 76 Challege pays off to the winner of a Winston Cup Series race who started from the pole position. $7600 is added each race until there is a winner.
Sponsored by Quaker Oats Company through its Gatorade Sports Beverage, the Gatorade Front Runner Award includes all NASCAR divisions. The leader at the halfway mark of each NWCS race receives $10,000 from Gatorade. In addition, a $50,000 bonus will be awarded to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series point leader after the 16th race of the season, which signifies passing the schedule's halfway mark. Gatorade is the Official Sports Beverage of NASCAR.
The MCI Fast Pace Award of $5,000 goes to the driver who records the fastest lap during each Winston Cup Series race.
The True Value Man of the Race Award pays $1000 to charity and $1000 to the eligible driver who wins each race on the Winston Cup Series schedule.
Plasti-Kote, the Official Spray Paint of NASCAR, presents a $2,000 Winning Finish Award to the crew chief of the winning car in each of the 31 NWCS events. In addition, Plasti-Kote will present $38,000 in Quality Finish Awards at the conclusion of the season to the crew chiefs on the top three teams that post the best average overall finishing positions in 31 NWCS races this season.
The Bud Pole Awards are sponsored by Anheuser-Busch, Inc., through its Budweiser brand, the Official Beer of NASCAR. Throughout NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, this program will award $5,000 to the winner of each Bud Pole Award. The driver who wins the most Bud Pole Awards also will win an additional bonus of $30,000. Another $10,000 will be awarded to that driver's crew chief.
Each Bud Pole Award winner also automatically receives an invitation to compete in the Bud Shootout, a rich 50-mile race held exclusively for the previous year's Bud Pole Award winners and two other selected drivers.
Any driver who uses Unocal oil and lubricants in his NASCAR Winston Cup Series car is eligible for the Unocal Contingency Point Fund Award. Award winners are determined by the NWCS points accumulated by each driver. The NWCS driver who meets the program's stipulations and finishes highest in the final standings wins $100,000 from Unocal. The second-place finisher will win $50,000 and third place will receive $25,000. In addition, Unocal, the Official Fuel of NASCAR, awards a $25,000 gasoline contingency award to the NWCS champion.
The Rookie of the Year is given to the first-year driver who earns the most points based on their finishes in relation to one another. Points are based on each driver's best 15 finishes. Bonus points are awarded for top-10 finishes and standings in the NASCAR Winston Cup points at various times during the season. Points also are awarded on a subjective basis in various areas from a special rookie panel at the end of the season. The winner is awarded $25,000.
This page was last updated on June 11, 1999
