Turning a marathon into a sprint.(NASCAR)

It's not unusual for NASCAR to use its competitors and the media to float ideas, seeking to find which ones fly in the arena of public opinion and which ones sink like lead balloons.

This year's hot topic is the revision of the points system and what should or can be done to spice it up. There has been talk of awarding more points for wins, points for leading at the halfway mark of races and points for poles. But I could not have devised this latest scheme if I had been stranded in Jamaica for a week, living off the native herb and Red Stripe.

Jimmy Spencer, as a guest on SpeedChannel's Inside Winston Cup last week, said NASCAR chairman Brian France has ...