Points are awarded throughout the race and for overall finish. NASCAR Cup Series events have up to 40 cars each race. Drivers earn points during the race and for where they finish in the race. These points are totaled over the course of a season and determine the driver’s standings, as well as the owner standings. Here is a breakdown of place scoring as well as in-race scoring.
Place Finishes:
| 1st place – 40 | 11th place – 26 | 21st place – 16 | 31st place – 6 |
| 2nd place – 35 | 12th place – 25 | 22nd place – 15 | 32nd place – 5 |
| 3rd place – 34 | 13th place – 24 | 23rd place – 14 | 33rd place – 4 |
| 4th place – 33 | 14th place – 23 | 24th place – 13 | 34th place – 3 |
| 5th place – 32 | 15th place – 22 | 25th place – 12 | 35th place – 2 |
| 6th place – 31 | 16th place – 21 | 26th place – 11 | 36th and lower – 1 |
| 7th place – 30 | 17th place – 20 | 27th place – 10 | |
| 8th place – 29 | 18th place – 19 | 28th place – 9 | |
| 9th place – 28 | 19th place – 18 | 29th place – 8 | |
| 10th place – 27 | 20th place – 17 | 30th place – 7 |
Each race is split up into three stages (except the Coca-Cola 600 which is split up into four stages). Each of the first two stages (three for Coca-Cola), award points as following:
| 1st place – 10 |
| 2nd place – 9 |
| 3rd place – 8 |
| 4th place – 7 |
| 5th place – 6 |
| 6th place – 5 |
| 7th place – 4 |
| 8th place – 3 |
| 9th place – 2 |
| 10th place – 1 |
**The NASCAR Cup Series champion isn’t always the driver who scores the most points throughout the year:
- Sixteen (16) drivers make it into the first three-race round of the playoffs.
- Twelve (12) advance to the three-race quarterfinal round.
- Eight (8) advance to the three-race semifinal round.
- Four (4) advance to the winner-take-all Championship 4.
Points are reset to 2,000 in the playoffs for drivers. Playoff points are calculated based on wins, stage wins, and regular season points finish. Wins are worth five playoff points. Stage wins are worth one each. Drivers who finish in the top 10 in the regular season standings score additional playoff points as follows.
| 1st place – 15 |
| 2nd place – 10 |
| 3rd place – 8 |
| 4th place – 7 |
| 5th place – 6 |
| 6th place – 5 |
| 7th place – 4 |
| 8th place – 3 |
| 9th place – 2 |
| 10th place – 1 |
Example: a driver with two wins (10 playoff points), four stage wins (4), and a seventh place finish in the regular season standings (7) would enter the playoffs with 2,021 points (21 playoff points).
As drivers advance throughout the playoffs, their point totals are automatically added. As an example, the twelve (12) drivers who advance to the second begin with 3,000 points in addition to their playoff points. The eight (8) drivers who advance to the third round start with 4,000 points.
