The NASCAR Winston Cup Points System
Each driver who competes in a NASCAR Winston Cup race is awarded points according to the following descending scale. Each driver that leads a lap during the race is awarded 5 bonus points. The driver that leads the most laps is awarded an additional 5 bonus points.
Pos
Pts.
  
Pos
Pts.
  
Pos
Pts.
1
175
  
16
115
  
31
70
2
170
  
17
112
  
32
67
3
165
  
18
109
  
33
64
4
160
  
19
106
  
34
61
5
155
  
20
103
  
35
58
6
150
  
21
100
  
36
55
7
146
  
22
97
  
37
52
8
142
  
23
94
  
38
49
9
138
  
24
91
  
39
46
10
134
  
25
88
  
40
43
11
130
  
26
85
  
41
40
12
127
  
27
82
  
42
37
13
124
  
28
79
  
43
34
14
121
  
29
76
  
15
118
  
30
73
  

Season Awards and Money

Winston Cup Leader Bonus

The Winston Cup Leader Bonus is a competition that places emphasis on winning AND leading the Winston Cup points standings.

The Winston Cup Leader Bonus pays $10,000 to a driver who wins a race and leads the Winston Cup points at the conclusion of that race. When there is no such winner, the money will roll over to the next race.

Bonus payoffs of six figures are possible.

In the event that the Winston Cup champion does not win the final race of the season, the remaining money from the Winston Cup Leader Bonus will be divided incrementally among the top 10 finishers in the final Winston Cup points standings. That way, the money in the Winston Cup Leader Bonus will be paid in full at season's end.

NASCAR Winston Cup Point Fund Distribution for Year 2000
Pos
Amount
 
Position
Amount
1
$3,000,000
 
14
194,800
2
  1,050,000
 
15
189,000
3
    722,000
 
16
183,200
4
   564,000
 
17
177,400
5
   481,000
 
18
171,600
6
   408,000
 
19
165,800
7
   360,000
 
20
160,000
8
   312,000
 
21
  81,000
9
   273,000
 
22
  79,500
10
   244,000
 
23
  78,000
11
   217,000
 
24
  76,500
12
   206,400
 
25
  65,500
13
   200,600