NASCAR mailbag: Does Ryan Newman’s win signal a Richard Childress Racing turnaround?

Each week SB Nation’s NASCAR reporter Jordan Bianchi answers your questions about the latest news and happenings within the sport. If you have a question for a future mailbag, email jordanmbianchi@gmail.com.

It doesn’t seem right that Ryan Newman wins a race but receives fewer points than other drivers who finished behind him. If winning is supposed to be the most important thing then shouldn’t the winner get more points?

--Adam

Among the various tentacles of NASCAR’s new three-stage format, the distribution of points and how the winner isn’t guaranteed to earn the most has drawn a lot of attention. It occurred for the first time this season Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway.

For winning the Camping World 500, Newman accumulated 42 points — 40 points for the win itself plus two additional points for finishing ninth in the first segment — a total fewer than Kyle Larson (53 points), Kyle Busch (47), Brad Keselowski (46), and the same as Chase Elliott. The discrepancy is because Larson, Busch, Keselowski, and Elliott all finished higher than Newman in each of the first two stages, thereby accumulating additional bonus points.

Winning remains important and the benefits it brings — more prize money, a virtual guaranteed playoff spot, All-Star Race qualification, etc. — are considerable. However, what’s changed is that under this new format a driver’s performance throughout the race is being awarded, and not simply how they finished. In this instance, Larson, Busch, Keselowski, and Elliott ran closer to the front than Newman for the majority of the race and at the end of Stage 1 and 2. Thusly, that’s what the points reflect, even though Newman is credited with the overall victory.

Although this is a different procedure than in recent years that the winner isn’t assured of earning the most points in a given race isn’t unprecedented. In fact, under the points system utilized from 1975 to 2010 where drivers received five points for leading a single lap and an additional five points for leading the most laps, it was not uncommon to have the winner earn as many points as the second-place finisher.

What’s quickly been learned through four races is that the new system is essentially a hybrid of the previous system that stressed consistency, while also providing a tangible reward for winning that was the backbone of the structural changes announced with the knockout playoff format in 2014.

I’ve been a fan of Richard Childress Racing since Dale [Earnhardt] was driving the Wrangler No. 3, so I was super happy to see the team win on Sunday. But even I am smart enough to realize that RCR is not back. Am I wrong to think this or should I be more optimistic that the team has turned the corner and will be contenders again?

--Rich

While Newman’s win was a nice moment for a driver and team in a prolonged stretch of futility, and Newman and crew chief Luke Lambert deserve all the credit for their decisions and execution in the final laps, there’s no evidence to suggest RCR has returned to organization capable of winning any given week without a sequence of circumstances working in its favor.

To win consistently, a team needs to possess a high level of speed in its car that allows its driver(s) to run up front where it can be in position to challenge for the top position. Based on how few laps Newman, Austin Dillon, and Paul Menard have combined to lead and how infrequently Dillon and Menard have spent in the top 15 through four races, RCR’s Chevrolets still lack in this department. And against the likes of Team Penske, Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing, and even Chip Ganassi Racing, which made substantial gains over the offseason, as demonstrated by Kyle Larson’s three consecutive second-place finishes, RCR will struggle to keep pace and until it can overcome the deficit.

That doesn’t mean RCR is incapable of additional triumphs this season. But any wins will in all probability come by way of strategy or fluky circumstances than by merely outrunning the competition — exactly how Newman won Sunday.

Are restrictor plates really going to make the racing better at Indianapolis? It seems like a lost cause at this point. The track is terrible for stock cars and nothing NASCAR can do will make it any better. I’d much rather see the race go elsewhere.

--Nick

There is definite answer whether restrictor plates will enhance racing at track optimized best for open-wheel cars and not clunky stock cars that require banking to pass, but every option should be explored. Precisely why NASCAR is going with the horsepower-sapping device for this year’s Xfinity Series race as it seeks to juice the on-track product at the iconic venue and if all goes well, the same rules package will then be implemented for the 2018 Monster Energy Cup Series race.

Hopefully this is the solution and if not, hopefully NASCAR has another idea to try. Because it is clear that NASCAR’s relationship with Indianapolis Motor Speedway is reaching a breaking point where either the racing needs to significantly improve or both parties need to seriously contemplate a divorce. Things simply cannot continue as is, not with attendance dwindling each year — a reported crowd of 50,000 watched Busch lead 149 of 170 laps and blister the field — and with television ratings shrinking to levels not befitting what is supposed to be the second-biggest race in the sport.

And even if restrictor plates prove to be an abject failure, much like the high-drag aerodynamic package used in the 2015 race, it doesn’t matter. NASCAR is trying and it deserves credit for doing so.