Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
Max Verstappen clinched the World Drivers' Championship on Saturday. Verstappen followed it up with a grand prix victory on Sunday from Qatar. Oscar Piastri won the sprint race, but does anyone really care? The Mercedes made contact. Marc Márquez will be going to Gresini Ducati next year. Something occurred for the first time in the 21st century. NASCAR had a cutoff race from Charlotte and there was a somewhat of a surprise winner. The 2024 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Kyle Larson is about to complete rookie orientation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The IndyCar hybrid system is about to undergo its first test on the oval. Indianapolis just hosted an endurance race, but there is another endurance race on my mind and what it means to a championship.
IMSA Needs a New Points System
We are heading into the IMSA finale with a historic championship picture in GTP.
Any of the top seven teams could win the championship in a championship that has seen eight cars compete in every race. It has been rather tight. Only two cars have won multiple times and only two cars have finished on the podium in more than three races. Five points cover the top three teams with the difference between finishing first and second being 30 points. Fourth is 38 points back! It is remarkable. Practically everyone has a shot at Petit Le Mans.
But let's be serious for a second. Seven of eight teams have a championship shot in the finale?
IMSA did not change its points system long ago, but it needs another makeover.
Ahead of the 2021 season, IMSA multiplied its points distribution tenfold with a victory now awarding 350 points, 320 points to second with a 20-point decrease down to fifth where it becomes a ten-point decrease between positions. With the inflation of race points, IMSA started awarding what was race points for qualifying. Pole position earned 35 points, 32 points for second and each position gets a tenth of what a race finish would pay for that spot.
It is too much. The #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac leads with 2,460 points. There is no point in having the points total be that high for a nine-race championship. There is no reason pole position should be worth a tenth of a race victory.
Even crazier is IMSA's points system pays down to 30th. Outside GTD, which has had car counts in the mid-teens for most of the season and exceeds 20 for the endurance races, there is no point in planning on paying points to a 19th-place finisher in any other class.
GTP was at eight cars for most of the season. LMP2 has about seven or eight in every race. LMP3 was around eight to ten. GTD Pro never exceeded five cars at any of the non-endurance races.
This points distribution combined with the class size has helped these championship pictures be as tight as they are. In GTP, a last-place finish for most of the seats in eighth is worth about 65.714% of a race victory. Finishing fourth is getting 80% of a victory. It is not hard to see how everyone has a chance at the championship.
The points system does not prevent runaways. Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth only has to start the finale in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus to take the GTD Pro title thanks to nine podium finishes and not finishing worse than fourth in the first ten races. Gar Robinson took the LMP3 championship with ease after winning four of the first five races and finishing second in the other.
Clinching a championship early is not impossible, but if enough cars were entered in GTD Pro, Barnicoat and Hawksworth could be sweating bullets. If GTD Pro had GTD's car count, the championship could fall from the Vasser Sullivan Lexus duo.
With most of these classes not exceed a dozen cars, there is a simple solution.
Adopt the FIA championship points system.
25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1
It is easy. Everyone understands it. Most motorsports fans know it. If IMSA still wants to award a point for pole position, fine. I don't know how it wants to weigh its points for the endurance races, but IMSA currently doesn't weigh its points for endurance races, why change with this system? Plus, the Endurance Cup championships exist and they take into considering the duration of those four events. IMSA might already have it covered.
Along with being digestible, the FIA championship points system values winning more. Second-place is only worth 72% of a victory, fourth is less than half of a victory and tenth is only worth 4%. In the current IMSA system, tenth is equal to 60% of a race victory, the equivalent of third in the FIA system.
GTP is going to grow a little next year and we will likely see about ten cars full-time next year. Even if the class went to 12 or 13 cars, the FIA system works. LMP2 could be pushing 15 cars as LMP3 teams move into the class after LMP3 was removed from IMSA's top series. Even then, it is ok if a few teams do not score points. Should 14th really receive anything?
GTD Pro could still be a question as it will likely stay below ten full-time cars, but wouldn't a race winner feel more valued knowing the sixth-place finisher only received 32% of its points total rather than 71.42%.
That is how you make winning more valuable; by making finishing anywhere else worth less.
How would things look in the pro classes in 2023 if IMSA had the FIA system?
Not much different, but there would be slight variations.
It would be one-point between the #6 Porsche leading on 105 points and the #31 Cadillac and the #60 MSR Acura would be third on 101 points. Taking into consideration the Meyer Shank Racing penalty after Daytona, I deducted the same proportion of points from the #60 Acura, which would have been about a 14-point deduction, meaning it would still get 11 points for its Daytona victory.
The next three cars would be the #10 Acura on 99 points, the #25 BMW on 98 points and the #7 Porsche on 92 points. Those six cars would be mathematically eligible. The #01 Cadillac would be 25 points back of the #6 Porsche, but the #01 Cadillac would lose on tiebreaker as it could finish level on victories, but the #6 has more runner-up finishes.
In GTD Pro, the #14 Lexus would still have to start the finale, but it could lose it. It has a 22-point lead one the #3 Corvette. Even the #79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG would have a chance to win the championship as a victory would put it level with the #14 Lexus, and the #79 Mercedes-AMG would own the tiebreaker with four victories to the #14's two.
IMSA should not feel ashamed if it took on a global points system. We do not need a special American points system just to be different. Frankly, the current system is inadequate for the current state of the series. Even if there were 25 full-time cars in each class, it would be inadequate. IMSA should want a system that produces its best champion. That means having first and second significantly outweigh finishing fifth, sixth, seventh and so on.
This has been a fun season to watch, and in the inaugural season of this GTP class, each manufacturer has answered the bell and produced a competitive race car. But the championship point system should really separate the mighty from the strong. It doesn't quite do that, and at the end of the season, a few teams should stand above the rest with a title to decide.
Champions From the Weekend
You know about Max Verstappen, but did you know...
The #28 RS1 Porsche of Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer clinched the GT World Challenge America championship with its fifth-place finish in the Indianapolis 8 Hour.
Zac Anderson clinched the GT4 America Silver Cup championship. Jason Hart and Matt Travis clinched the GT4 America Pro-Am Cup championship.
Memo Gidley clinched the GT American championship by sweeping the weekend from Indianapolis.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri and Memo Gidley but did you know...
Shane van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway won the 65th Bathurst 1000.
The #30 Team WRT BMW of Philipp Eng, Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor won the Indianapolis 8 Hour.
The #92 Racing Vandals Racing BMW of Kenton Koch and Kevin Boehm and the #34 Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsport Mercedes-AMG of Michai Stephens and Jesse Webb split the GT4 America races from Indianapolis.
A.J. Allmendinger won the NASCAR race from Charlotte, his first victory since Indianapolis 2021. Sam Mayer won the Grand National Series race, his third victory of the season.
France won Motocross des Nations with riders Romain Febvre, Tom Vialle and Maxime Renaux on home soil in Ernée.
Coming Up This Weekend
Petit Le Mans.
MotoGP hopes for nice weather in Indonesia.
The GT World Endurance Challenge Europe Sprint Cup concludes its season in Zandvoort.
NASCAR begins its semifinal round in Las Vegas.
Super GT will be at Autopolis.
