By any system, Kenseth is the points leader

Though you may choose to deny it, Matt Kenseth is rapidly turning the current championship points race into a one-liner: Everyone else is playing for second.

	Marty Smith

Most of you think I've lost my mind for saying so, which is to be expected.

What follows was not.

To get a true assessment of Kenseth's performance this season, the higher-ups and I thought it would be interesting to determine who-has-done-what under other major motorsports series' point systems.

Therefore, we summoned NASCAR.com statistical czar Brad Morris for some assistance. This guy is Einstein meets Bill Gates, with a sprinkle of Mr. Wizard somewhere in the mix for good measure.

On my behalf, Morris created an Excel spreadsheet chronicling how this season's Winston Cup drivers - on the basis of their to-date performance during the 2003 campaign -- would rank under the point systems in use by the Indy Racing League, CART and Formula One.

	Matt Kenseth

The results were intriguing.

First things first: In case you've been hanging out in a hole for the past month, Kenseth currently holds a 258-point advantage over second-place Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the championship chase.

It is the fourth-largest advantage in the modern era at this point in the season.

Would Kenseth be so dominant under other series' point systems?

Though none of the following breakdowns are completely applicable to Winston Cup since there are fewer cars in the other series' fields, and not every finisher receives points, it's still fun to run the numbers for giggles.

The Indy Racing League assigns points to the top 33 finishers in each event, plus a two-point bonus for leading the most laps. Fifty points go to the winner, 40 to second-place and 35 to third-place.

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Under this system, Kenseth would hold a 62-point advantage over Earnhardt, Jr., while Jeff Gordon, who after two consecutive substandard outings is 396 points behind Kenseth in the Cup standings, would trail by 125 points.

After that, it gets quite interesting. Jimmie Johnson, currently 478 points behind Kenseth and fourth in the Cup standings, would rank seventh in the IRL.

Meanwhile Bobby Labonte, who ranks seventh in Winston Cup, would be fourth in IRL. Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch, fifth and eighth, respectively in Cup, would also switch positions.

Weird.

The top-12 finishers receive points in the CART scoring system, plus one-point bonuses for winning the pole and leading the most laps.

The breakdown is 20 points to the winner, 16 for second-place, 14 for third, then 12, 10, eight and six for the fourth-through-seventh-place finishers, and a one-point discrepancy from eighth-through-12th.

By those standards, Kenseth would lead Earnhardt Jr. by just five points and Gordon by 26.

Get this: Ryan Newman, who is ninth in the up standings, would be fourth in CART. Johnson would be eighth, and sixth-place Winston Cup driver Michael Waltrip would be 10th.

Yet again, odd.

Formula One awards points to the top-eight finishers in the following manner: 10-eight-six-five-four-three-two-one. This is where our little experiment got crazy.

Using this system, Earnhardt, Jr. is tied with Kenseth for the points lead.

(That obnoxious roar you just heard is applause of the Earnhardt nation.)

Seriously, a guy holding a 258-point deficit in the Winston Cup standings is the dadgum points leader in F1.

Pure insanity, I tell you.

Alright, enough already. Mathematical equations make my head hurt.

And, after all, the Winston Cup points race is still a one-liner.

Marty Smith is a staff writer for NASCAR.com. His column appears each Thursday.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.