WC slugging percentage

After race 22, the Goody's 500 at Bristol, TN:

I don't usually make comment with these postings, but in view of Ernie Irvan's situation I think it's necessary today. Even after missing two complete races, Ernie remains second in this "slugging percentage" ranking scheme. Remember, this slugging percentage rewards consistency, high finishes, and numbers of high finishes. In official WC points, he has slipped to fourth (249 points behind), and is in imminent danger of being leapfrogged by Schrader and Rudd after next week's race at Darlington.

IMHO the effects of this are just terrible because it wipes out the magnificent performances put on by Ernie in the first 2/3s of the season. Worse yet, it rewards the mediocre finishes (no harm meant, so please hold the flames) of Schrader, Rudd, Shepherd et al. Just look at and compare the top 5/10/25 numbers below. I hadn't really thought of this before, but it looks like now's the time for me to give good ol' Bob Latford and his other buddies at NASCAR a call about their scoring system...

  Car #        Driver      Points Finish % Score    Top 5s  Top 10s Top 25s
---------+----------------+------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------
       3  Dale Earnhardt      88   4.6316   0.0128      13      17      19
      28  Ernie Irvan         79   4.6471   0.0161      13      15      17
       2  Rusty Wallace       85   5.0000   0.0173      13      15      17
       6  Mark Martin        106   5.8889   0.0182      12      15      18
      25  Kenny Schrader     188   9.4000   0.0235       7      14      20
      10  Ricky Rudd         231  11.0000   0.0249       3      11      21
      21  Morgan Shepherd    213  11.2105   0.0311       6      11      19
      30  Michael Waltrip    223  11.7368   0.0325       2       8      19
      15  Lake Speed         254  13.3684   0.0370       2       5      19
      11  Bill Elliott       194  11.4118   0.0395       4       8      17
      16  Ted Musgrave       242  13.4444   0.0415       0       5      18
      24  Jeff Gordon        141   9.4000   0.0418       5      10      15
      42  Kyle Petty         198  12.3750   0.0483       2       5      16
       5  Terry Labonte      199  12.4375   0.0486       2       6      16
      17  Darrell Waltrip    206  12.8750   0.0503       3       8      16
      22  Bobby Labonte      298  16.5556   0.0511       1       2      18
       4  Sterling Marlin    150  10.7143   0.0547       3       8      14
      75  Todd Bodine        181  12.9286   0.0660       1       6      14
      26  Brett Bodine       185  13.2143   0.0674       1       4      14
       7  Geoff Bodine        91   8.2727   0.0684       5       7      11
      18  Dale Jarrett       195  13.9286   0.0711       2       4      14
       1  Rick Mast          134  11.1667   0.0775       2       8      12
      41  Joe Nemechek       210  16.1538   0.0956       1       3      13
       8  Jeff Burton        225  17.3077   0.1024       2       2      13
      23  Hut Stricklin      229  17.6154   0.1042       0       1      13
      27  Jimmy Spencer      154  14.0000   0.1157       3       4      11
      33  Harry Gant         154  14.0000   0.1157       0       6      11
      40  Bobby Hamilton     214  17.8333   0.1238       0       1      12
      43  Wally Dallenbach   167  15.1818   0.1255       1       3      11
      77  Greg Sacks         145  16.1111   0.1989       0       3       9
      29  Steve Grissom      153  17.0000   0.2099       0       1       9
      90  Mike Wallace       157  17.4444   0.2154       0       0       9
      12  Chuck Bown         161  17.8889   0.2209       0       1       9
      12  Derrike Cope       154  19.2500   0.3008       0       0       8
      71  Dave Marcis        133  19.0000   0.3878       0       1       7
      19  Loy Allen          134  19.1429   0.3907       0       0       7
      55  Jimmy Hensley       90  18.0000   0.7200       0       0       5
      32  Dick Trickle        96  19.2000   0.7680       0       0       5
      43  John Andretti      108  21.6000   0.8640       0       0       5
      98  Jeremy Mayfield    111  22.2000   0.8880       0       0       5
      31  Ward Burton         72  18.0000   1.1250       1       1       4
      44  Bobby Hillin        84  21.0000   1.3125       0       0       4
      28  Kenny Wallace       41  13.6667   1.5185       0       1       3
       9  Rich Bickle         64  21.3333   2.3704       0       0       3
      20  Randy LaJoie        40  20.0000   5.0000       0       0       2
      52  Brad Teague         46  23.0000   5.7500       0       0       2
       9  Joe Ruttman         18  18.0000  18.0000       0       0       1
      80  Jimmy Horton        19  19.0000  19.0000       0       0       1
      02  Jeff Purvis         21  21.0000  21.0000       0       0       1
      27  Tommy Kendall       22  22.0000  22.0000       0       0       1
      34  Mike McLaughlin     22  22.0000  22.0000       0       0       1
      78  Jay Hedgecock       25  25.0000  25.0000       0       0       1

--- Mark A. Breland - Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) Information Systems Division | voice: (512) 338-3509 3500 West Balcones Center Drive | FAX: (512) 338-3900 Austin, Texas 78759-6509 USA NB#51 | internet: breland@mcc.com