On Tuesday morning (Feb. 4), it was announced that NASCAR would be tweaking its points system for the first time since 2017.
The tweak? Courtesy of the Xfinity Fastest Lap program, a new bonus point will be awarded to the driver that clocks the fastest lap of any NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series or Craftsman Truck Series race.
Fastest laps are highly coveted in open wheel racing — a win, a pole and a fastest lap in one race is called a “hat trick” in Formula 1 — but they haven’t been a point of discussion throughout NASCAR’s history. Bits and pieces of fastest-lap data exist throughout the NASCAR races of yesteryear, but you’d have to look far and wide to find that data the further back in time you go.
This season, going fast means even more!
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 4, 2025
With @XfinityRacing, a new bonus point is up for grabs in all three national series! pic.twitter.com/2pLysoadCQ
That all changes for 2025, as the fastest lap will become a brand-new addition to race strategy. The extra point means that a driver can now score up to 61 points in a single race (71 for the Coca-Cola 600), and in a series where every point counts, the teams and drivers will be doing everything in their power to earn it.
To show how important that single point will be, let’s retroactively award those bonus points for races last year.
Eight drivers scored multiple fastest laps in the 2024 Cup season, and Kyle Larson led the pack with five. Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin and Shane van Gisbergen were tied for second with three apiece.
Driver | Fastest Laps |
Kyle Larson | 5 |
Christopher Bell | 3 |
Denny Hamlin | 3 |
Shane van Gisbergen | 3 |
Joey Logano | 2 |
Brad Keselowski | 2 |
Martin Truex Jr. | 2 |
Ty Gibbs | 2 |
All five of Larson’s fastest laps occurred in the regular season, and that would’ve added five points to his regular season total in a year where he lost the regular season championship to Tyler Reddick by one point.
As for Bell, one of his fastest laps came at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October — the race where he led 155 of the 267 laps but finished second to Joey Logano in a fuel-mileage finish. Flash forward to the controversial finish at Martinsville Speedway two weeks later, where Bell only needed to gain one spot, one point to advance to the Championship 4 over William Byron. The fastest lap from Las Vegas would’ve given Bell the one point he needed, and that entire finish plays out differently if the Fastest Lap bonus was in play.
Clearly, earning that extra point each weekend is vital — especially in the playoff races (sans the finale). Back when NASCAR used to award a bonus point (or five) for leading a lap, teams would change their pit strategy and stay out long in a green flag cycle just to pick up that extra point.
But how much strategy, if any, can be used to earn the fastest lap?
When F1 awarded a bonus point for the fastest lap from 2019 to 2024, a team in the top 10 that was in no danger of losing positions would often hit pit road at the very end of the race and put on new tires in the hopes of picking up that extra point. That obviously won’t happen in NASCAR, unless a team that’s tens of laps off the pace from a mechanical failure decides to throw a Hail Mary. Even then, it’s unlikely a car in that dire of a situation would have the speed to pull it off.
The only races where “games” can be played to earn the fastest lap are the superspeedways. With the restricted speeds, the fastest laps of a superspeedway race come from drivers at the back of the pack who pick up a monster draft that pulls them right to the rest of the field.
In my opinion, having a fastest lap point for superspeedways is not good. If the goal of the point is to award a driver for pure speed, it does the exact opposite at superspeedways, as drivers will now intentionally lag back to pick up a run. And in a Next Gen car where passing is difficult and fuel saving has become king at superspeedways, awarding drivers for running in the back could have unintended consequences to the racing product.
Beyond those tracks, there isn’t much a mid-pack team can do to win the fastest lap without throwing their race away. Pitting for new tires or going off strategy at tracks with heavy tire wear will give teams a chance at the bonus point, as will restarts if a driver restarts toward the front and pulls drafts off the cars in front of them. That also gives an advantage to drivers with great short-run cars.
But long story short, the fastest cars and the fastest drivers run the fastest laps of a race on average, and that’s reflected by the drivers at the top of last year’s leaderboard. There will be some opportunities for unorthodox strategy here and there, but the point will predominately reward the teams that are scoring the most points each weekend.
As for the future of the point system, the Fastest Lap bonus opens up opportunities for further changes. Could we see the return of bonus points for a lap led or the most laps led? Could a bonus point or two be awarded to the polesitter to reinvigorate qualifying? All of them could be on the table if the Fastest Lap bonus point proves to be a success this season.
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly columns include “Stat Sheet” and “4 Burning Questions.” He also writes commentary, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Can find on Twitter @stephen_stumpf.
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I think it should be the fastest lap in the last ten laps of Brian’s product. GWCs don’t count!