Why does it seem that the Hendrick drivers never fall in the points even tho they do horrible in a race?

Question

Why does it seem that the Hendrick drivers never fall in the points even tho they do horrible in a race?

Answer 1

#18World pretty much summed it up best.  However, JR led the most laps not Kyle.

Check it on Nascar.com or Yahoo Sports. Jr-51, Gordo-46, Kyle-31, Menard-19.  No one else led more than 6 laps.

Answer 2

Rick delivers the checks to Na$car that he makes from JRs hypnotized fans who buy his merchandise like flies on poo.

Answer 3

well take last nights race for example...its called bonus points...Jr received 5 points for leading a lap...and he also received an additional 5 points for leading the most laps. add those to the 142 points for finishing 8th and that's 152 points. Jeff Burton on the other hand only received 52 points and appeared as if Jr rose when in fact Jeff fell out of second

Answer 4

Hard to fall in the points when you hardly ever finish out of the top 10.

Answer 5

Don't tell Casey Mears that.

Answer 6

because the drivers around them in points also are horrible in a race

Answer 7

FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, there are only 10 points available DURING the race - 5 for leading a lap and another 5 for leading the most laps. The rest of the points are based solely on what position they finish in. X amount for 1st, X amount for 2nd, X amount for 3rd and so on - same as their share of the purse. Hendrick drivers are consistent with top 5, top 10 and top 15 finishes. If they start a race (for example) 100 points ahead of the next position and still place ahead of that driver at the end, they'll keep their lead. Even if the next driver in the standings wins the race, they can still keep their position if they START the race enough points ahead of him.

Answer 8

RUMOR HAS IT THEY CHEAT

Answer 9

it's all a matter of fairly simple mathematics that are conceptually harder to explain than they are to calculate.  the main concepts to keep in mind here are 1) how the racers finish relative to one another, and 2) how far into the season we are. as others have stated above, if everyone in the top 10 has a bad day, then they all stay about the same in the points relative to each other. as one person stated, junior didn't overtake second from burton, burton dropped to third because of his poor finish - poor relative to junior.  and both of them (and everyone else) lost points relative to rowdy, as kyle got as many as was possible by winning and leading the most laps.

more importantly, the further into the season we are, the less a bad finish affects any single driver negatively (and the less a good finish helps a driver) - because of the accumulation of points as the season goes along.  for example, kyle finished 43rd at pocono, but managed to stay in 1st in the points.  why? he had built up a fairly large lead in the points, but as important, it was nearly half-way through the season.  if he had finished 43rd in the second race of the season, he would have dropped like a stone in the standings. so, now that we are half-way into the season, each week moving up or down many positions gets harder and harder.

if you'd like mathematical models, equations, and examples, ask again and i'll lay it out in detail... but i'm sure that would bore most people to death.

;-)

Answer 10

That's because they do well enough in all of the other races to build a points cushion. Hendrick isn't doing bad. Gibbs is doing better.

Answer 11

Largest contributor to NASCARs wallets?

Answer 12

They (drivers) are just consistent. Keep in mind that any form of  motorsports competition awards points to non-winning drivers as well. For example, even though Jeff Gordon has not won a race so far this season, he's consistently finishing in the top 5 or top 10 most of the time. That is why he's still in the hunt for the "Chase".

Answer 13

HMS is NASCARS meal ticket...

But with 31 getting into the wall and other cars, he fell in the points and JR moved up to second.

NASCAR will change and alter any rule at anytime, they see fit.

Answer 14

It is a conspiracy!!! NO it is that the people in front of them in the points do worse .

Answer 15

They must not be doing too bad if they are doing good in points.  Jr has been the most consistant, lead a bunch of laps, a buch of top 5's and a couple 10's finishes, AND ONE WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(and only 1 DNF I think.) Not too bad, and I hope it sums up your question.

Answer 16

because one race can't make you fall, it can drop you. Hendrick has the best drivers in nascar, so if one has a bad race, they will probably get a win or a couple of top fives to boost them back up. the maximum points a driver can get is 195, lowest is 34. so if a hendrick driver gets a 43 postion finish ( earning 34 pts), and next week wins (earning 195 pts), for those 2 weeks, earning him 229 pts. that won't make him fall.

Answer 17

If someone answers this question and can actually understand and explain the NASCAR points system,they should get 100 points instead of 10. I don't think it can be done.