The New NASCAR Points System:
NASCAR recently announced it has simplified its points system starting in 2011, some notes on how it works:
The new points system awards points in one-point increments with race winners earning 43 points, plus three bonus points for the win.
All other drivers in a finishing order will be separated by one-point increments. A second-place finisher will earn 42 points, a third-place driver 41 points, and so on. A last-place finisher  43rd place  earns one point. In the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the last-place finisher receives eight points, to account for that series' 36-driver race field.
All drivers also can earn an extra point for leading a lap and ONE driver who leads the most laps, gets one point.
The max a driver, a race winner can get, is 48 points.
Teams that fail to qualify for a race will get no owners points, but NASCAR will track number of attempts, no word on how ties will be broken after five races when the owners points goes into effect.

The New Sprint Cup Chase System:
Twelve drivers will run the Chase
The top 10 in points following Race No. 26 -- the "cutoff" race -- to earn Chase berths.
The final two spots will be determined by the number of wins during the first 26 races.
Positions 11 and 12 are "wild card" qualifiers and will go to non-top-10-ranked drivers with the most wins, as long as they're ranked in the top 20 in points. Ties are broken by points position, then by 2nd place finishes, 3rd, etc.
The top-10 Chase drivers will be seeded based on wins during the first 26 races, with each win worth three bonus points.
The wild card drivers will not receive bonus points for wins and will be seeded 11th and 12th, respectively.
The top 12 drivers will be reset to 2000 points, drivers 1-10 will get three- bonus points per win.