A case for new points

ESPN's John Oreovicz just published an article showing how the IndyCar title would have been impacted by different points systems (read it here). I've been doing a lot of thinking about the points system we currently see in IndyCars, and I can't say I'm 100% happy with it.


The case for a different points system:

• It seems kind of silly to reward individuals simply for showing up to races. Since there's only one race a year where the league has to send people home for having too many cars, there is no pressing need to score the bottom of the field like in NASCAR.
• The current points system is hard to follow. A hardcore like me may have memorized the 50-40-32-30-28-26-24-22-20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12 to 24th and 10 to 33rd, I hazarded to think someone who casually watches the races can tell you how the points work. I bet though if you asked a casual F1 fan what the points are they can tell you. That's because it's easy to understand.
• Little incentive to push lower than 12th place or so. Let's say, for example, you're on a team like Conquest. You're not likely to finish near the front of the field anytime soon on an oval. More likely, you're in about 15th. What reason do you have to push ahead to 14th? One...measly...point. When the champion is scoring over 500 in a season, the drive for a point is far from lacking.
• Something for the backmarkers to push for. This is kind of point 3B., but watch a series with a finite number of points scorers. While the battle up front may be nonexistent in many F1 races, the battle for 7th or 8th is often pretty exciting. That because everybody fighting in that area of the grid, the Williams, Red Bulls, Toro Rossos, and Toyotas all want to score points. A few measly points can mean a lot of money for both drivers and constructors at the end of the year. Having some great battles towards the middle of the pack might give the broadcasters a reason to shine a light on some of those teams the frequent there: the Conquests, Coynes, and Dreyer & Reinbolds, which in turn may make them more lucrative to sponsors who would otherwise say no since they are never on TV except when they crash.
  

What do I propose the Indy Racing League should do? Bring back the old CART system of 20-16-14-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. It combines all the elements that the points system should have. It rewards the top drivers at a particular race. While the F1 system is too small for the size of the IndyCar fields, this would give anywhere from 40-50% of the field points for the race. If you award points to any more drivers, you run into the problem of seeing people earning points despite crashing out of races - this year's Richmond race has only 12 finishers.

If you apply this system to the 2008 season, 28 drivers (including every regular team) scored points during the year. The only regular drivers who failed to score a point were Marty Roth, Milka Duno, and Jaime Camara. Two out of three of those names probably shouldn't be in the field anyway, so few fans would moan about their lack of points.

I also like the CART system as a way of paying homage to American Open Wheel Racing. It's a way to put the split behind and race again like we did back before it happened.