Points Instead of Money? NASCAR chairman Bill France said Sunday he would like to see the sanctioning body turn to a penalty system that takes points away from teams instead of the standard fines. NASCAR almost never takes points away from a team because its the core of the race for the Winston Cup championship. Instead, teams are fined and the money is put into the point fund that is split among the drivers at the end of the season. But NASCAR president Mike Helton recently warned teams that deduction of points could become the norm because of a recent rash of cars failing postrace inspections. France said he favored that route because monetary penalties on the lower-tier teams creates a lingering hardship.(ThatsRacin.com/AP)(6-17-2002)
