The ARCA Menards Series has announced a change to its championship points format, aligning the series point structure with those in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series, and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series as well as the ARCA Menards Series East and West, formerly known as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series.
Previously, the ARCA Menards Series used a format that awarded 235 points to a race winner, 220 points for second, and then a five-point interval per position throughout the field. Five bonus points were available for winning the General Tire Pole via qualifying, for leading a lap, and leading the most laps, meaning a driver could earn a maximum of 250 points per race.
Under the new system, a race winner will earn 43 points plus a three-point bonus for winning the race for a total of 46 points, second would earn 42 points with a one-point per position interval through the remainder of the field. There will be a one-point bonus for winning the General Tire Pole via qualifying, and one-point bonuses for leading a lap and leading the most laps, meaning the maximum a driver could score by sweeping an event is 49 points.
As it has been in the past, ARCA will award teams points for competing in each five-race segment within its 20-race season. In 2020, those segments are scheduled to end at Charlotte, Lucas Oil Raceway, Watkins Glen International, and at the season finale at Kansas Speedway. Any driver or owner attempting to compete in each of the five races per segment will earn a 50-point bonus, with any driver or owner entering and competing in all twenty races earning the maximum 200 bonus points. The same system will apply in the ARCA Menards Series East and West as well.
“Entering our third year as NASCAR property and now as the sanctioning body for the ARCA Menards Series East and West, we felt it was time to align our points system to fall more in line with the other national series,” said ARCA president Ron Drager. “The one-point-per-position points format has led to some great championship battles since it was implemented, and we are looking forward to seeing how it plays out in the ARCA Menards Series in 2020.”
The battle for the 2020 ARCA Menards Series championship kicks off with the Lucas Oil 200 Driven by General Tire at Daytona International Speedway on February 8. The race will be televised live on FS1 starting at 4:30 pm ET. The ARCA Menards Series East opens its season on Monday, February 10 at New Smyrna Speedway and the ARCA Menards Series West opens with the Star Nursery 150 at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Thursday, February 20. Both of those races will be streamed live on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold, and will be televised on a tape-delayed basis on NBCSN.
ARCA Menards Series Championship Points Distribution:
1st 43
2nd 42
3rd 41
4th 40
5th 39
6th 38
7th 37
8th 36
9th 35
10th 34
11th 33
12th 32
13th 31
14th 30
15th 29
16th 28
17th 27
18th 26
19th 25
20th 24
21st 23
22nd 22
23rd 21
24th 20
25th 19
26th 18
27th 17
28th 16
29th 15
30th 14
31st 13
32nd 12
33rd 11
34th 10
35th 9
36th 8
37th 7
38th 6
39th 5
40th 4
41st 3
42nd 2
43rd 1
Bonus points available: 3 points for winning the race, 1 point for winning the General Tire Pole via qualifying; 1 point for leading a lap; 1 point for leading the most laps.
