2024 Points Per Race: By The Numbers

The 2024 points-per-race report compares drivers on a more level playing field. NASCAR’s shift to a playoff system complicates comparing driver performance. In some years, a playoff driver couldn’t finish lower than 16th — even when he deserved to.

Average Points per Race

Let’s look first at the average points each driver scored during the season.

A note for clarification: I use straight points. That means no rescaling at the ends of rounds. I also count stage points won by the Championship 4 in Phoenix. I do this because that makes this as even a comparison as possible.

Driver	Races Run	Average Points per Race	Fewest Points	Most Points
Larson	35	33.8	1	60
Bell	36	32.0	2	67
Elliott	36	31.9	1	49
Hamlin	36	31.5	1	54
Byron	36	31.4	2	61
Reddick	36	30.3	3	57
Blaney	36	30.0	1	57
Bowman	36	27.0	1	54
Truex Jr	36	26.4	1	51
Keselowski	36	26.1	4	57
Buescher	36	25.8	1	51
Wallace	36	25.8	1	51
Logano	36	25.2	3	49
Chastain	36	25.1	1	43
Gibbs	36	24.0	1	52
Busch	36	21.3	2	48
Suarez	36	21.1	1	47
Briscoe	36	20.8	1	57
Cindric	36	20.6	1	56
Hocevar	36	19.6	1	37
Gragson	36	18.0	1	34
Gilliland	36	17.5	1	33
McDowell	36	17.3	1	40
Preece	36	17.2	1	33
Stenhouse Jr	36	16.4	1	49
Berry	36	16.1	1	45
A Dillon	36	15.8	1	50
Jones	34	15.0	2	32
Hemric	36	14.3	1	29
Haley	36	13.9	1	30
Smith	36	13.8	0	35
LaJoie	36	13.6	1	33
Nemechek	36	12.2	1	44
H Burton	36	12.0	1	40

Highlights from Average Points Per Race

• Kyle Larson earned the most points per race on average with an average of 33.8 points per race over 35 races.
• Christopher Bell posts the second-highest average points per race with 32.0 points over 36 races.
• Larson and Bell are followed by: Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, William Byron and Tyler Reddick.
• Joey Logano earned only 25.2 points on average per race, which ranks him 13th on the list.
• If you eliminate DNFs from the calculation:
  • Larson still earned the most points per race on average with 37.7 points
  • Bell remains second with 37.0 average points per race.
  • Logano jumps to eighth in the rankings with 28.8 average points per race.
• Even if you consider total points, Larson tops the list despite having one fewer race than everyone else. He beats Bell by 20 points.

Christopher Bell earned the most points in a single race: 67 points, which is over the usual 60-point-per-race-max because it happened at the Coca-Cola 400, which has three stages. Even though the race didn’t make it to the end of the third stage, NASCAR awards those stage points based on finishing points.

A Nonlinear Look at Points

One criticism of NASCAR’s points format is that it values wins too much. It’s a valid criticism, but it’s also a difficult balance. I wanted to find a way to come up with a score that took good finishes into account beyond simple counting them.

The problem with a linear point scale is that there the point difference between first and second is the same as the points different between 21st and 25th. If you subscribe to the principle that it’s much harder to finish first than second, the standard points scale isn’t very satisfying.

I turned to a nonlinear point scale. It’s similar to the old point scale, but rewards higher finishes more. In my scale, a win earns the driver 100 points. A second-place finish earns 89 points, a third-place finish 79 points. (Yes, it’s all done according to a formula.)

Stage points aren’t included. This is more of an old-school metric.

In this metric:

• Bell averages 47.5 points per race
• Larson averages 46.4 points per race.
• Byron averages 44.8 points per race
• Reddick averages 43.0 points per races
• Hamlin averages 40.3 points per race
• Blaney averages 40.2 points per race
• Elliott averages 40.0 points per race

Logano appears 13th on this list as well. A number of people asked me to find some data that supported Logano’s claim to the championship and, honestly, it’s tough. That’s one reason NASCAR is apparently reviewing the playoff format. It’s not like these issues haven’t been raised before, either.

But this picture would likely be very different if Kyle Larson hadn’t missed the Coca-Cola 600. He probably would have advanced to the Championship 4 and might have raced differently.

The Playoff Format

The current playoff format rewards the checkers or wreckers mentality for the best — and the luckiest — drivers in the field. Kyle Larson would almost certainly have won the championship had he not a) missed a race and/or b) had so many DNFs.

But that’s the system everyone signed up for — including us fans by watching it. The Ford drivers are very good at playing this format in the Gen-7 car. But this championship measures different things than past championships. So they’re not directly comparable.

Which Driver had the Best Season?

In my opinion, Larson and Bell had the best seasons in terms of performance. Regular-season winner Reddick started off strong but faded in the playoffs. Elliott and Byron made strong showings as well.

And that’s the 2024 points report.

For the rest of the posts in my by-the-numbers series, see the 2024 by-the-numbers page.