NASCAR introduces new points incentive for drivers in 2025 season

NASCAR is implementing an additional aspect into its points system ahead of the 2025 season. NASCAR announced on Tuesday that starting this year, the driver who records the fastest lap in the race will receive one bonus point in the championship standings.

Partnering with Xfinity, the sport will award a bonus point to the driver with the Xfinity Fastest Lap. NASCAR's social media team posted a graphic on X breaking down how the new points incentive will work, writing:

"This season, going fast means even more! With @XfinityRacing, a new bonus point is up for grabs in all three national series!"

The driver with the fastest lap in any given race in the three major touring series will be awarded one point. However, that driver must be eligible for championship points in that series. For instance, if Kyle Busch runs the fastest lap in a CRAFTSMAN Truck Series event, a series he doesn't earn championship points in, he won't be awarded the bonus point. The fastest lap can be recorded at any time throughout the three-stage race.

The new points incentive, in a way, is a throwback to an aspect of the old NASCAR points system. Since the days of the Winston Cup Series format and even through some of the playoff era, drivers would be awarded bonus points for leading laps and whoever led the most laps in a given race. However, once the 16-driver playoff format was implemented in 2014, NASCAR did away with awarding points for laps led.

NASCAR champion Chase Elliott recently weighed in on potential playoff format changes

NASCAR: Cup Qualifying - Source: Imagn

Despite the additional points incentive for running the fastest lap in a race, the NASCAR playoffs format remains the same. 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott recently gave his thoughts on the playoff format and the situation NASCAR is in.

The driver of the #9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet told Jeff Gluck that the sport has crucial decisions to make about how to crown a champion. Regardless of how they do it, Elliott is hopeful that winning championships in the sport remains meaningful. He said:

"It’s an extremely important decision. I’m not sure there’s a more important decision we can make in just how we crown our champion every year and making sure we’re not ever doing that the wrong way or taking away from what that means. Long-term, whatever decision they want to make, I just want to make sure... these prestigious moments are always prestigious.”

Logano won last year's championship with a 17.1 average finish, the worst among any champion in history. Despite winning a season-high six races last year, Kyle Larson failed to make it to the Championship 4.