I was thinking amount the amount of passes Oriol Servia and Tony Kanaan have made this year and that got me thinking even more. What if IndyCar awarded some type of points for positions increased by the end of a race? I am not saying IndyCar should do this but I was playing with it and thought of a way it could work. The criteria for "Improvement Points" is simple.
1. You only get them if you gain from your starting position. Example, if you start on pole and finish fifth you do not lose points but if you start fifth and win you do earn "Improvement Points."
2. Each positioned gained is a half of a point. Example, start third and finish second you earn a half a point. Start twenty-fifth and win you gain twelve points.
3. To avoid having a drive score more points than the winner of the race, make a win worth 60 points.
Here is a breakdown of each driver, what races they gained positions and the amount of "improvement points" earned.
Hunter-Reay: Gained 7 at Long Beach, 3 at Sao Paulo, 1 at Milwaukee, 6 at Iowa and 5 at Toronto. Total gained 22, points earned: 11. New points total: 346
Power: 8 at Barber, 11 at Long Beach and 2 at Milwaukee. Total gained 21, points earned: 10.5. New points total: 311.5
Castroneves: 4 at St. Pete, 5 at Long Beach, 14 at Sao Paulo, 8 at Texas, 1 at Toronto. Total gained 32, points earned: 16. New points total: 305
Dixon: 4 at St. Pete, 1 at Barber, 13 at Indianapolis, 10 at Milwaukee and 4 at Iowa. Total gained 32, points earned: 16. New points total: 297
Hinchcliffe: 13 at Long Beach, 2 at Texas, 5 at Milwaukee. Total gained 20, points earned: 10. New points total: 278.
Kanaan: 15 at Long Beach, 5 at Indianapolis, 12 at Belle Isle, 4 at Milwaukee, 16 at Iowa and 13 at Toronto. Total gained 65, points earned 32.5 New points total: 299.5
Pagenaud: 10 at St. Pete, 5 at Barber, 2 at Long Beach, 4 at Sao Paulo, 7 at Indianapolis, 1 at Belle Isle, 3 at Texas, 20 at Iowa. Total gained 52, points earned: 26. New points total: 290
Franchitti: 8 at Barber, 15 at Indianapolis and 12 at Belle Isle. Total gained 35, points earned: 17.5. New points total: 247.5
Briscoe: 4 at Long Beach, 7 at Texas and 5 at Milwaukee. Total gained 16, points earned: 8. New points total: 225.
Servia: 7 at St. Pete, 13 at Barber, 7 at Long Beach, 12 at Sao Paulo, 23 at Indianapolis, 11 at Belle Isle, 16 at Milwaukee and 9 at Toronto. Total gained 98, points earned: 49. New points total: 264
Rahal: 4 at Barber, 1 at Texas, 2 at Milwaukee and 11 at Iowa. Total gained 18, points earned: 9. New points total: 214
Kimball: 13 at St. Pete, 7 at Sao Paulo, 6 at Indianapolis, 12 at Belle Isle, 1 at Milwaukee, 3 at Iowa and 11 Toronto. Total gained 53, points earned 26.5. New points total: 230.5
Wilson: 5 at St. Pete, 4 at Sao Paulo, 14 at Indianapolis, 16 at Texas and 3 at Iowa. Total gained 42, points earned: 21. New points total: 221
Hildebrand: 15 at Long Beach, 7 at Sao Paulo, 4 at Indianapolis, 5 at Belle Isle, 18 at Milwaukee and 8 at Toronto. Total gained 57, points earned: 28.5. New points total: 227.5
Andretti: 2 at Barber, 11 at Belle Isle, 1 at Iowa and 6 at Toronto. Total gained 20, points earned: 10. New points total: 197
Barrichello: 6 at Barber, 13 at Long Beach, 2 at Sao Paulo, 4 at Iowa and 7 at Toronto. Total gained 32, points earned: 16. New points total: 199
Sato: 22 at Sao Paulo, 2 at Indianapolis, 4 at Milwaukee and 11 at Iowa. Total gained 39, points earned: 19.5 New points total: 195.5
Conway: 6 at Belle Isle, 2 at Texas, 9 at Milwaukee and 8 at Toronto. Total gained 25, points earned: 12.5. New points total: 184.5
Viso: 4 at St. Pete, 3 at Long Beach, 4 at Sao Paulo and 3 at Toronto. Total gained 14, points earned: 7. New points total: 179
Carpenter: 6 at St. Pete, 1 at Barber, 10 at Long Beach, 7 at Indianapolis, 9 at Belle Isle, 7 at Texas, 14 at Milwaukee, 13 at Iowa and 3 at Toronto. Total gained 70, points earned: 35. New points total: 198
Tagliani: 2 at St. Pete, 6 at Milwaukee and 6 at Toronto. Total gained 14, points earned: 7. New points total: 169
Jakes: 4 at Barber, 3 at Long Beach, 2 at Sao Paulo, 2 at Indianapolis, 11 at Texas, 5 at Iowa and 16 at Toronto. Total gained 43, points earned: 21.5. New points total: 183.5
Newgarden: 8 at St. Pete, 12 at Texas and 7 at Toronto. Total gained 27, points earned: 13.5. New points total: 156.5
de Silvestro: 1 at Barber, 12 at Belle Isle, 8 at Iowa and 1 at Toronto. Total gained 22, points earned 11. New points total: 134
Legge: 2 at St. Pete, 1 at Barber, 7 at Long Beach, 8 at Indianapolis, 7 at Texas and 1 at Iowa. Total gained 26, points earned 13. New points total: 116
Bourdais: 5 at St. Pete, 8 at Barber, 8 at Long Beach, 4 at Sao Paulo and 5 at Indianapolis. Total gained 30, points earned: 15. New points total: 117.
The standings would look like this. Change from actually position is in parenthesis.
1. Hunter-Reay
2. Power
3. Castroneves
4. Kanaan (+2)
5. Dixon (-1)
6. Pagenaud (+1)
7. Hinchcliffe (-2)
8. Servia (+2)
9. Franchitti (-1)
10. Kimball (+2)
11. Hildebrand (+3)
12. Briscoe (-3)
13. Wilson
14. Rahal (-3)
15. Barrichello (+1)
16. Carpenter (+4)
17. Andretti (-2)
18. Sato (-1)
19. Conway (-1)
20. Jakes (+2)
21. Viso (-2)
22. Tagliani (-1)
23. Newgarden
24. de Silvestro
25. Bourdais (+1)
26. Legge (-1)
As you can see there would be a lot of movement in the standings. The big movers are Carpenter, Hildebrand, Kimball and Kanaan. It kind of penalizes those who start up in the top ten and finish in the top ten and helps those who start in the back two rows, keep their noses clean and gain twelve positions from twenty-fifth to thirteenth. I am not sure that is the best thing. I am not saying "Improvement Points" should be used but it would be interesting.
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