One of our biggest fears surrounding any new NASCAR Cup Series points format that emphasized points and "consistency" was the fact that stage racing could ultimately determine a champion.
Race winners scored 40 points, while stage winners scored 10. Because of how the rest of the points were allotted, a race winner could technically finish as low as 11th place in total points scored, while the 16th place finisher could lead all drivers in points.
As far as racing "purity" was concerned, this was a major flaw, even in the knockout playoff era.
And as much as the "win and in" element of the championship format absolutely did need to be abandoned from the new format, wins still needed to matter – a lot.
And now they do.
NASCAR values wins heavily, without 'win and in'
Instead of being worth 40 points, wins are now worth 55. At the very least, race winners guaranteed to tie for the race lead in total points scored, since non-winners cannot score more than 55 (except in the Coca-Cola 600).
There may not be a "win and in" element to the new 16-driver Chase format, but now winners truly control their own destiny, not just in terms of simply qualifying for the 10-race Chase, but in terms of finishing on top of the standings.
The only issue, however, is the fact that the points were not altered for the rest of the finishing positions, an issue explored in more detail here.
Second place finishes are still worth 35, third place finishes are still worth 34, fourth place finishes are still worth 33, and so on. The race runner-up could finish 12th in points, while the 21st place finisher could finish second.
We still don't like the fact that, thanks to stage racing, running seventh instead of eighth on some random predetermined lap during a late March race can technically affect the championship outcome, since that could be the difference in how many points a driver has to start the Chase, but it's still better than what it was in the past.
We all know that drivers and teams would strategize differently if the rules were different, and we've only heard that stated about a million times during the Championship 4 era. Stage racing is certainly no exception, and we can only assume that this new era won't be either.
Any new format was going to have its flaws; nobody was going to be completely happy. NASCAR did a great job on finding a compromise. However, let's just hope that this potential pitfall doesn't end up coming back to bite anybody. Because in 2025, it actually would have.