Weekend That Was: AMS

Four races into the 2007 season, and already it is apparent that NASCAR's new points system is seriously flawed.

How else can anyone explain the fact that Jimmie Johnson is coming off back-to-back wins -- meaning he beat the other 42 competitors at each of the last two tracks -- and yet he's fourth in the current point standings?

Fourth? Are you kidding me? Sure, the Chase for the Nextel Cup is still a long, long way away and some might attempt to state that it is way too early to start complaining, but this is ridiculous.

• Send Joe your thoughts

It is a byproduct of NASCAR attempting to fool themselves, and everyone else along with them, again. When the latest changes to the points system were announced in January, NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France proclaimed that the adjustments were designed to establish more balance between winning and consistent finishes, but with a new emphasis on the former.

"The adjustments taken put a greater emphasis on winning races," France said at the time. "Winning is what this sport is all about. Nobody likes to see drivers content to finish in the top 10. We want our sport -- especially during the Chase -- to be more about winning."

The Chase is comprised of the last 10 races of the 36-race season. During the format's first three years, the drivers who were top 10 in points after the 26th race of the season qualified for the Chase; in addition, any other driver outside the top 10 but within 400 points of the standings' leader also was eligible.

Starting this season, the 400-point cutoff is eliminated and the top 12 drivers in the points after Race 26 will qualify for the Chase. All 12 drivers will have their point totals re-set to 5,000; each will then receive a 10-point bonus for each race victory they had during the first 26 races

The Chase drivers then will be "seeded" to start the Chase based on the number of wins registered during the regular season, with the argument being that at that point in time, as long as they have qualified for the Chase, the winners of the most races will reap the real harvest of their earlier victories.

All of which is well and good in theory. But how much are those wins worth for now? A lousy five extra points each week, that's what.

And it's still not enough.

The fact that Johnson currently is fourth in the standings proves it. Sure, he got off to a terrible start when he wrecked in the season-opening Daytona 500 and finished 39th. But he finished third the following week in California, then won in Las Vegas before winning again Sunday in Atlanta.

Yet under the current system he trails points leader Mark Martin by 28, and also is behind Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton -- none of whom has won a race this season. Martin has totaled 629 points thus far, followed by Gordon with 621 and Burton with 618. Johnson's total is a measly 601.

Changes to Chase

When NASCAR announced changes to the points, officials said race victories would become more important.

• Complete story, click here

The other two race winners, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick, currently are running in fifth and seventh, respectively. Something obviously is not right here.

It brings to mind the immortal words of Bruton Smith, who apparently -- and not surprisingly -- was not consulted by NASCAR before the changes to the points system were put into effect.

"We need to place more of an emphasis on winning," Smith said recently at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, one of six tracks he owns as chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc. "Winning in any kind of sport, to me, that's everything. I told somebody recently that I saw someone get out of his racecar after finishing fourth, and you guys [in the media] run to interview him about what a great day he had. I think he's the third loser. That's the way I look at it.

"And if I'm a race fan, I don't want to sit up there [and hear that]. I'm interested in who won the race. And I'm interested in collecting my money from whomever I bet with about who was going to win that day."

Bruton's plan? It might sound oversimplified, and of course it is, but at its basic core it makes more sense than what the NASCAR folks came up with during the last offseason.

"We need to get rid of Plan 1, Plan 2 and any other plans that anyone else is thinking about," Smith said. "Get rid of all that and put the money up there. A long time ago, we used to run races and 20 percent of the purse was paid to the winner.

"Now I'm not saying that today we need to do that -- but maybe 18 or 17 percent should go to that winner. And let there be a fight to win that race, more so than what you see today."

And let there be more points awarded to the winner at the end of the day, too. Please.

More to ponder

So Mark Martin stuck to his guns, and to his word. Good for him.

Regan Ready

Now that Mark Martin has all but guaranteed he won't be at Bristol next weekend, Regan Smith can get back to the business of focusing on making his Nextel Cup debut in the No. 01 Ginn Racing Chevrolet.

• Complete story, click here

After weeks of saying he was planning to stick to the pre-arranged plan of running a part-time schedule for Ginn Racing this season, yet inevitably leaving just a little crack of the door open to the possibility of staying in the No. 01 Chevrolet longer than initially advertised, Martin made it clear in Atlanta that he will be nowhere near Bristol Motor Speedway for this Sunday's race. Rookie Regan Smith, as planned, will slide into Martin's vacated seat and drive the 01 car.

But before all the questioners grow completely silent, here is another possibility to consider: Martin could miss the next two races, come back as scheduled for April 15 race at Texas Motor Speedway -- and still make a run for a spot in the Chase.

It's not out of the question. Martin currently is scheduled to run 23 events. He has stated again and again that he doesn't like all the bumping and grinding that transpires at places like Bristol and Martinsville. But he also stated earlier that he's having so much fun running at the intermediate tracks that he might look to add a couple events to his schedule later in the year.

If Martin comes back and continues to stay solidly in the top 12 in points, why not see where it takes him? He could always cut back on his schedule again if and when he drops out of the top 12, or out of contention for the top 12. Meantime, he could keep the dream alive for pursuit of his first points championship -- although at age 48, that seems to mean a whole lot more to his fans and outsiders than it does to the driver himself.

Front-row Joe

While Martin has gained all the attention, and rightly so, for his hot start this season, Ginn Racing teammate Joe Nemechek has quietly fared well in the early going, too. Nemechek finished 17th in Atlanta, and was one of those set up for a better finish if NASCAR hadn't called a caution for debris on the track with 15 laps remaining.

The 325-lap, 500-mile event at Atlanta Motor Speedway was looking like it was going to come down to a fuel-mileage contest, and Nemechek's No. 13 Ginn Resorts Chevrolet had enough gas to avoid making a late green-flag pit stop. Johnson, the eventual winner, supposedly was going to run out on either the last lap or the next-to-last lap -- and he wasn't alone among those running up front who were facing a similar dilemma.

"We had them on gas," Nemechek said afterward. "It's really disappointing that caution came out. We were successful at saving gas -- we had enough fuel to make it to the end while the majority of the cars in front of us didn't. We were looking at a top-five or better finish."

Crew chief Peter Sospenzo credited "Front Row Joe" for getting the team in the race in the first place. Nemechek had to go on what team public relations man David Ferroni termed "a second-lap banzai run" during the qualifying session to do so.

"If Joe hadn't made that incredible lap, we wouldn't be here talking about our finish," Sospenzo said after the race. "Considering how close we were to going home early, a 17th-place finish doesn't look that bad. Honestly, we needed to finish this race and earn some points. Hopefully after next week, we'll be one of the teams with an automatic qualifying berth."

Despite facing go-fast-or-go-home scenarios each of the first four races in qualifying, Nemechek is in solid position to get locked in as one of the top 35 in points after getting into the field in the first four and running well enough that he's now 19th in points, only 51 out of 10th.

Rocko fallout

Received way too many e-mails of the wrong nature regarding a feature I wrote last week on Dion "Rocko" Williams, the former Wake Forest college football standout who now works as the front-tire changer on Kyle Petty's No. 45 car.

Making a big hit

Former Wake Forest football player Rocko Williams admits he misses football. But he's loving his new career as a tire changer for Petty Enterprises.

• Complete story, click here

Seems several readers were somehow offended that I mentioned almost in passing that Williams was "African-American." Most thought there was no need, especially since a picture accompanied the story. That point I may concede, although I still don't see how also mentioning it in the story is offensive.

Let's face it: in NASCAR, the push for diversity still lags behind. Williams remains such a minority on pit road that his ethnic background was worth mentioning. The day may come where it's no longer necessary. (After all, when I was covering the NFL for nearly 12 years, I didn't mention that Mike Minter or Julius Peppers were African-Americans whenever I wrote about them; but that was because the locker rooms in the NFL are much more diverse than pit road is in NASCAR, thereby making it a non-issue). That day hasn't yet arrived at the track.

The good thing is that Williams is helping bring more former college athletes of diverse backgrounds into the sport through his efforts as a pit coach, and simply because he's appears to be the sort of positive personality that others feed off of.

Quite frankly, Rocko Williams had a good story to tell. That's why the piece was written about him.

Pit Stops

• Nextel Cup isn't the only series afflicted with skewed points standings at the moment. Jeff Burton has won the last two Busch Series races and is only ninth in the point standings -- but that's because he has entered only three of the five events to date.

• Of the top six drivers in the Busch Series, only two, Carl Edwards and Dave Blaney, have run all five events. Edwards, the overwhelming preseason favorite to win the championship, is currently first and Blaney is third.

• Blaney isn't faring nearly as well in the Cup Series, where he is 38th.

• With a pole, two wins and another top-five in the first three Craftsman Truck Series races, Mike Skinner is looking like he could run away and hide from the rest of the Truck guys this season.

• When the Car of Tomorrow is used this Sunday at Bristol, does it become the Car of Today? And won't it still be a COT?

• NASCAR is opening the Bristol garage a day early this week, at 10 a.m. ET Thursday, to aid the inspection process for the first Cup race to use the COT.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.