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As promised here is an update of the points under the old points system. If you didn’t catch it, I wrote a post the other day about it.

1. #48 Jimmie Johnson, 5156
2. #24-Jeff Gordon, 5090, -66
3. #14-Tony Stewart, 5085, -71
4. #11-Denny Hamlin, 4806, -350
5. #5-Mark Martin, 4762, -394
6. #2-Kurt Busch, 4758, -398
7. #16-Greg Biffle, 4541, -615
8. #42-Juan Pablo Montoya, 4503, -653
9. #18-Kyle Busch, 4457, -699
10. #39-Ryan Newman, 4447, -709
11. #99-Carl Edwards, 4398, -758
12. #17-Matt Kenseth, 4389, -767
13. #9-Kasey Kahne, 4388, -768
14. #33-Clint Bowyer, 4359, -797
15. #00-David Reutimann, 4221, -935
16. #83-Brian Vickers, 4122, -1034

No surprises here. As with the Chase points, Jimmie led into the finale at Homestead and only strengthened his lead. His nearest competitor going into Homestead under the old points system was Tony Stewart and do to his and Montoya’s on track antics, he didn’t finish very well.

As with last week, Mark Martin (finished 2nd) and Brian Vickers (finished 12th) were helped the most by the chase; Tony Stewart (finished 6th) and Kyle Busch (finished 13th) were hurt the most.

Again though all in all the Chase didn’t change who won and didn’t have too much effect on where everyone finished (if everything had turned out the same); the cream always rises to the top.

While I understand this post is completely hypothetical, I think it’s interesting to look at how things would shake out. Ultimately what we find year in and year out is things don’t really change that much.

It creates some excitement toward the end of the season and lets us play the what-if game, but in the end what happens here probably would have happened there.

Our Off-Season Plans

Well, a couple hundred posts and a ton of different stories, we find ourselves at the end of another season. After some discussion TC and I decided we are going to cut back posting in the off-season to three days per week plus a Saturday links post. Never fear though we’re still going to be doing Ask The Insiders Wednesday, so keep sending questions!

Of course if anything comes up on one of our off days, any news or rumors, we’ll jump on and bring it to you.

As for the rest of this week, we’ll be closed for business (well maybe not closed, we just won’t be posting).

I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving and we’ll see you back here with a new post Monday, November 30.

Oh and before I go, TC and I both want to thank everyone for coming to the site and engaging us and each other. It’s because of you that we enjoy doing this everyday.

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Since its inception in 2004 the Chase has been one of the more contentious issues among fans. I know many of you don’t like it. So I think it’s interesting every year to look at the standings as if we were still under the old points system.

This is something I did last year (here and here) and honestly we weren’t too surprised by the results. Jimmie ended the season just behind Carl Edwards (16 points behind). I know what you’re saying, Jimmie’s a false champion, but remember the #48 team sandbagged at Homestead (I would have stayed out of the fight too). Anyway, thankfully this season I don’t have to figure out the points (I know I’m lazy), because NASCAR has already done it for me. Here they are…

1. #48 Jimmie Johnson, 4996
2. #14 Tony Stewart, 4983, -13
3. #24 Jeff Gordon, 4940, -56
4. #5 Mark Martin, 4635, -361
5. #11 Denny Hamlin, 4611, -385
6. #2 Kurt Busch, 4593, -403
7. #42 Juan Pablo Montoya, 4454, -542
8. #16 Greg Biffle, 4420, -576
9. #39 Ryan Newman, 4353, -643
10. #18 Kyle Busch, 4310, -686
11. #9 Kasey Kahne, 4276, -720
12. #17 Matt Kenseth, 4265, -731
13. #99 Carl Edwards, 4252, -744
14. #33 Clint Bowyer, 4224, -772
15. #00 David Reutimann, 4103, -893
16. #83 Brian Vickers, 4024, -972

I can’t personally say I’m surprised Jimmie is leading, however small that lead is. I suppose what surprises me the most is how close the champion race would have been between Johnson, Stewart and Gordon. This would have made for quite a showdown at Homestead. And so much for Mark Martin, he’s not even a factor without the Chase.

Obviously Stewart (currently 5th) and Gordon (currently 3rd) are hurt by the Chase. Interestingly though, so is Denny Hamlin (he’s currently 8th) and Kyle Busch, who missed the cut-off for the Chase and is sitting in 13th.

Being helped most by the Chase are Brian Vickers (currently 12th), Kurt Busch (currently in 4th) and Mark Martin (currently 2nd).

Outside of those guys just about everyone else is within a position or two of where they stand with the Chase. After looking at the points over the last several years, that really isn’t too surprising.

Going into Homestead, Jimmie Johnson is looking like a pretty good bet. It’s possible if they have another Texas-sized problem he could lose the Championship (that’s assuming Mark can put together a solid finish), but let’s face it the #48 is consistently consistent (and good).

My point with this, as it was last year, is to show that even though the Chase has changed the system, the end result really isn’t that much different. The Chase has brought some interest and intrigue to the late season, but at the end of the day the cream will rise to the top. Call Jimmie Johnson a false champion if you like, but you and I both know that’s not true.

Oh and I’ll update you on the final results for Monday’s post.