Filed under: Chase for the Sprint Cup, Sprint Cup, NASCAR
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Citing the need to make the championship format "simpler," NASCAR chairman Brian France formally introduced a new points system for the three national touring series Wednesday and also announced slight changes to the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff format and race qualifying procedures.
As has been rumored during the last two weeks, the new points payout will be 43-to-1 -- paying 43 points to the race winner with each position decreasing in one-point intervals, with a single point going to last place in the 43-car fields.
The race winner will also receive a three-point bonus. There are one-point bonuses available for leading one lap and for the driver who leads the most laps, meaning there is a maximum of 48 points available for a race winner who leads the most laps.
"So now everyone will know, when a driver is down by 10 points, that he needs to pass 11 more cars to take the lead in the point standings,'' France told a crowded room of reporters at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in downtown Charlotte.
"Very much a simple, easy to understand system for us."
In other significant news, France announced the third major change to the Chase playoff format since its inception eight years ago. The top 10 drivers in points after the 26-race regular season will qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. And in an effort to emphasize winning, NASCAR will now make the 11th and 12th place Chase qualifiers the drivers outside the top-10 with the most wins -- giving it a sort of wild-card feel.
The top-10 drivers will be reseeded as before, with a three-point bonus given for each win, compared to the 10-point bonus previously handed out. The 11th and 12th place drivers will be reseeded but will not receive bonus points for their wins.
"These guys are going to be driving like their hair is on fire,'' Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage said.
"Give NASCAR credit for placing the emphasis on winning races with the new points system. The points championship should be secondary to winning races week in and week out. If you do that, championships take care of themselves."
FORT WORTH, Texas -- It was hardly an inspirational sight, the shot of inured 
NEW YORK -- Really, there isn't much you can criticize about 
As the Vancouver Whitecaps prepare to select first in Thursday's MLS SuperDraft, the expansion side should heed this cautionary tale: Half of the No. 1 overall picks since the event was established in 2000 have been busts.
Saturday's Under Armour Senior Bowl will feature many of the nation's top senior college football players in a North-against-South format. 
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Defending champion 
Davis Love III is next up as U.S. captain in the Ryder Cup.
For over a year, dating back to the BCS title game last January, television-audience levels for football games have spiraled upward -- and Sunday's NFL conference championship games continued the trend.
A major knee injury, lengthy rehab and his subsequent banishment to the furthest end of AC Milan's bench haven't left U.S. national team center back Oguchi Onyewu with much to be happy about over the past 18 months.
The Mountain West Conference is content with its current membership.
She is, without question, the best women's soccer player in the world -- a five-time FIFA award winner 
Few things draw the ire of network announcers more than allegations that they favor one team or player over another or that they pull punches. That, and cutting off their clothing and hair-care allowances.
CLEVELAND -- There is no other city in the country with a team like the 
Someone said something shocking on a TNT 
For the second time in two national team appearances, teen sensation Juan Agudelo entered as a substitute and made the difference for the Americans.
In terms of his goals, 
Statistics make it easy to judge the player who's had the best season.
Norm Chow is returning to his roots.