Explained: NASCAR Cup Series points and championship format
Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to green at the 2024 season finale.
This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will hit the track for the first time in 2025. While Sunday’s Clash is an exhibition race, not eligible for any points, now is a good time to get up to speed on how to earn points in the sport.
The first points-paying race is coming up soon; the 2025 Daytona 500 will kick off on Sunday, February 16, setting the stage for a season-long battle to the championship.
NASCAR Cup Series points: Regular season
The NASCAR Cup Series season is split into two different segments: The “regular season” and the Playoffs.
During the regular season, all NASCAR drivers fight for wins and points in hopes of earning a slot in the Playoffs. Scoring a win is the easiest way to hop into the Playoffs, but if you’re not able to finish first, you can at least gain points by finishing.
At the end of the regular season, the driver who scored the most points will be the “regular season champion.”
Drivers can also earn points during each “stage” of the race, and the points will be reset during the Playoffs, as drivers compete for Playoff Points (which we’ll dig into below).
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Drivers earn points based on their finishing position:
- 1st – 40 points
- 2nd – 35 points
- 3rd – 34 points
- 4th – 33 points
- 5th – 32 points
- 6th – 31 points
- 7th – 30 points
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- 8th – 29 points
- 9th – 28 points
- 10th – 27 points
- 11th – 26 points
- 12th – 25 points
- 13th – 24 points
- 14th – 23 points
- 15th – 22 points
- 16th – 21 points
- 17th – 20 points
- 18th – 19 points
- 19th – 18 points
- 20th – 17 points
- 21st – 16 points
- 22nd – 15 points
- 23rd – 14 points
- 24th – 13 points
- 25th – 12 points
- 26th – 11 points
- 27th – 10 points
- 28th – 9 points
- 29th – 8 points
- 30th – 7 points
- 31st – 6 points
- 32nd – 5 points
- 33rd – 4 points
- 34th – 3 points
- 35th – 2 points
- 36th – 1 point
- 37th – 1 point
- 38th – 1 point
- 39th – 1 point
- 40th – 1 point
Drivers can also earn points based on their performance in each stage. The top-10 drivers will earn an inverse number of points depending on their position; the first-placed driver will score 10 points, while the 10th-place driver will earn one point.
Those stage points are added to the driver’s overall total based on their finishing position.
Additionally, drivers earn Playoff Points throughout both the regular season and the Playoffs. As mentioned above, if a driver wins a race, he immediately earns a place in the Playoffs; however, some drivers will not win races and can qualify for Playoff points.
The driver who wins a race earns five playoff points. Drivers who win Stage 1 and/or 2 in each race will score one additional Playoff point.
The driver who scores the most regular season points earns the regular season championship, which nets that driver 15 playoff points. All drivers finishing second and below in the regular season also earn playoff points in the following format:
- 1st – 15 playoff points
- 2nd – 10 playoff points
- 3rd – 8 playoff points
- 4th – 7 playoff points
- 5th – 6 playoff points
- 6th – 5 playoff points
- 7th – 4 playoff points
- 8th – 3 playoff points
- 9th – 2 playoff points
- 10th – 1 playoff points
A driver’s ability to make the Playoffs and then last through them into the final round determine that driver’s ability to win a championship at the end of the year.
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