Synopsis: Since NASCAR began awarding segment points, it has become very important to know who accumulates them.
Points are what drive Fantasy NASCAR.
Most games use NASCAR’s point structure as one of the key metrics. Since the series began awarding points at the end of two segments leading up to roughly the halfway mark of the race, it has become very important to know who regularly accumulates them if you want to win your league.
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So far in 2019 there have been 31 segments run and clear patterns are starting to emerge.
The dominator in terms of segment points so far in 2019 has been Joey Logano.
When he held off Alex Bowman at the end of Stage 1 for the Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, it was the 26th time this year that he scored segment points. And while points don’t seem to matter in today’s win-and-in format of the playoffs, it pays to remember that the points’ leader gets a substantial bonus at the end of the regular season.
Logano’s win last week was his second of the season, but it was the segment points he banked at Michigan that allowed him to take the current points’ lead. He scored his sixth segment win and his 158th point of the season. Along with five bonus points each for the two race wins, he has 16 playoff points to Kyle Busch’s 25. If Logano can keep his advantage through the end of Race 26, he will add 15 bonus points to his total at the end of the regular season and surpass Busch.
The 10 points earned at the end of Stage 1 last week contributed to a current lead of nine points over Busch. But even without that consideration, players have benefited from Logano’s largesse because he has amassed 29 more points than Busch, who has a propensity to surge at the end of races.
It’s not that Busch has been bad, however; he has the second-most stage wins during the season with five – the most recent of which came seven races ago at Richmond Raceway. He has scored points in 22 of the 31 segments, which is also second-best to Logano. Still, he has accumulated only 129 markers.
Kevin Harvick has earned the second-most points during the year. By finishing among the top 10 on 21 occasions and winning three segments, he has banked 144 points. In contrast to Busch, Harvick has been fading at the end of races largely because of mistakes.
Brad Keselowski has been feast or famine much of the year, both in regard to race finishes and stage results.
His four stage wins are third-best in that category and they came in only two races. Kez won both stages at Martinsville Speedway this spring on his way to a dominant win of the STP 500. He took the checkers first at the end of Stage 1 & 2 of the Coke 600. Keselowski was unable to sweep that race, however, since the 600 has three stages and Martin Truex Jr. won the third.
Kyle Larson is the only other driver in the field who currently has more than two stage wins. Winning Stage 1 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and then sweeping the two stages at Pocono Raceway two weeks ago have helped. Larson has amassed 80 stage points so far this season after earning points in 15 stages.
These stage points have been critical for Larson, who currently sits 15th in the standings with an eight-point advantage over Ryan Newman (who has no stage wins and only 29 stage points).
Points are equally important for drivers deeper in the field. Ty Dillon has scored stage points only twice this season, but he made the most of them with Stage 1 wins at Bristol Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. So far this year no one outside the top 16 in points has won a race, but if Dillon could pull off the right strategy before the regular season closes, those two playoff points could prove to be extremely valuable.
On the other side of the coin, Bowman is the driver who has earned the most segment points of 81 without scoring a stage win. He finished second to Logano last week at Michigan – and that has been the story of his season. He has scored stage points in 12 segments; half of these were because of second-place finishes at Daytona International Speedway, Talladega (both stages), Dover International Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Michigan.
Compounding Bowman’s frustration is the fact that he has also finished second in three races this season (Talladega, Dover, and Kansas Speedway). The good news is that surge of results has him 10th in the standings and 72 points ahead of the current cutoff line to make the playoffs.
Segment Points, 2019 31 Segments to Date | |||
Driver | Segment | Segments | Segment |
158 | 26 | 6 | |
144 | 21 | 3 | |
129 | 22 | 5 | |
126 | 18 | 4 | |
122 | 20 | 2 | |
118 | 20 | 2 | |
98 | 16 | 2 | |
81 | 12 | ||
80 | 15 | 3 | |
78 | 13 | 1 | |
72 | 11 | ||
70 | 15 | ||
63 | 11 | ||
51 | 12 | ||
50 | 13 | ||
42 | 11 | ||
41 | 9 | ||
38 | 7 | 1 | |
29 | 8 | ||
29 | 5 | ||
24 | 8 | ||
20 | 2 | 2 | |
20 | 7 | ||
10 | 4 | ||
5 | 1 | ||
4 | 1 | ||
3 | 2 |
Wins | Track | Driver |
6 | Michigan 1, Dover 1, Richmond 2, Bristol 2, Texas 1, Vegas 2 | |
5 | Richmond 1, Auto Club 1 & 2, Phoenix 2, Daytona 1 | |
4 | Martinsville 1 & 2, Charlotte 1& 2 | |
3 | Kansas 1, Vegas 1, Atlanta 2 | |
3 | Pocono 1 & 2, Atlanta 1 | |
2 | Talladega 2, Kansas 2 | |
2 | Charlotte 3, Dover 2 | |
2 | Phoenix 1, Daytona 2 | |
2 | Talladega 1, Bristol 1 | |
1 | Michigan 2 | |
1 | Texas Stage 2 |
