Four Wide: Second is sometimes better than first

It would take a rocket scientist to understand the complexity of NASCAR's antiquated purse structure – a system so confusing that its bizarre payouts are usually just accepted as one of the quirkier aspects of the sport.

That changed last week when the money was doled out at Pocono Raceway.

Denny Hamlin won Sunday's race and collected $212,875. Kyle Busch, his teammate, finished second but earned $220,854.

That's right, folks, the race winner earned less money than the guy who finished second.

We've all seen it happen on a weekly basis – a driver who finishes 17th or so can sometimes earn more money than the driver who finishes ahead of him in the standings. But to see the winner earn $7,979 less than the driver who finished second, well, that had to be first, right?

Wrong.

It's actually happened 43 times since 1961, with the largest injustice going to Mark Martin following his win at Talladega in 1995. Martin won $98,565, while runner-up Jeff Gordon collected $165,315. For those of you who don't have a calculator handy, that's a difference of a whopping $66,750.

Sure, that was 15 years ago and purses have changed. But the convoluted system in doling out money has remained the same, and drivers occasionally come out on the losing end of a winning race.

First vs. Second

The short explanation as to how this happens is that the purse is divided into several segments that cover the actual race winnings: television awards, car owner special plans, the Winner's Circle program and various awards that tie into contingency plans.

The contingency programs, for example, allow teams to choose which decals they want displayed on their cars and uniforms, and a monetary bonus comes with each association. Some teams elect to run everything they can, while others pick and choose based on conflicts with existing sponsors or personal beliefs – i.e., Petty Enterprises never participated in the Bud Pole program because Richard Petty promised his mother he'd never have a beer association.

The clearest example today is Red Bull Racing, which prefers a very "clean" look and therefore declines participating in most contingency programs to keep the decals off its cars. As a result, Brian Vickers earned $278 less than runner-up Gordon following his win at Michigan last year.

But the case of Hamlin is a bit more complicated. As teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, the two drivers participate in most of the same contingency programs and both are members of the Winner's Circle program, which awards money to drivers who won races the season before.

Where Hamlin falls short is that he's not a member of what NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter called the "TV program." I'm going to do my best to explain this one to you, but don't feel bad if you fall behind on this one.

"This program is designed to provide money to car owners who agree to prepare, qualify and compete each week," Hunter said.

However, car owners can only have two cars in the program. Which cars make the cut is determined by this super complicated formula:

• 100 percent of the points from the previous season
• 75 percent of the points from two seasons ago
• Anyone who has won a championship gets an additional 700 points for each championship

Because Bobby Labonte won a title in the No. 18, and Tony Stewart won two titles in the No. 20, both of those JGR cars rank higher than Hamlin's No. 11 and thus represent the organization in the TV program. So, that's how Busch got more money than Hamlin on Sunday at Pocono.

OK, now you have a better understanding of why some drivers make more money than others who finish ahead of them in the standings. Although it's sort of always been accepted, I can't help but argue how absurd it is when the race winner isn't the highest paid driver at the end of an event.

NASCAR, it seems, doesn't disagree.

"Many of those programs were invented eons ago by principles trying to funnel money to car owners so NASCAR would be able to field a full field of cars at races," Hunter said. "It's no secret that some of these programs don't fit today's environment, which leads to first place getting less money than second place and the fans looking at that and wondering, 'How could that be?' "

Hunter said NASCAR executives have spent considerable time studying that very issue this season and are trying to figure out what, if any, tweaks could be made to the system.

"It was all very sensical at the time, but maybe it doesn't make sense anymore, and how can we fix it?" he wondered. "We've got to figure that out."

Not lost in the debate is the premise that created this complicated system in the first place: The need to properly compensate the car owners so that they can afford to continue attending races.

So while it makes perfect sense to simply increase the percentage of the purse allocated to the winner, NASCAR must actually consider positions 2-43 as equally important.

"We have to make last-place money enough to make it worth running the race," Hunter said. "The one thing that will never change is the importance to spread the money out to support a healthy number of owners."

That's fine. Nobody would quibble with that argument. However, in this day and age, it's inexcusable for NASCAR not to fix a program that, in the earnings column, can sometimes make the winner the first loser.

Now, onto this weekend's race Michigan International Speedway:

1. Has it really been two years?

Indeed, this weekend marks the two-year anniversary of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s last victory.

NASCAR's most popular driver takes his 71-race winless streak into Michigan for Sunday's race, looking to stop a five-race slide. He's not finished higher than 18th in that span, and is now 16th in the points standings.

On the bright side, Michigan is a good track for Earnhardt, who scored his only points victory for Hendrick Motorsports there in 2008 – his first season with the team. Although that was his only career victory on the 2-mile oval – and he won it on fuel strategy – Earnhardt does have seven top 10s at the track.

"Michigan is a fun track," he said. "It's wide, and you'll find a lot of side-by-side racing. You can move around. If the top doesn't work, then you can run the bottom. I enjoyed running there, and we seem to have had some success there."

Earnhardt has had five top 10s in his last eight races at Michigan and he was third there last August.

If he's going to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship – right now he is 87 points out of the 12th spot with 12 races remaining – he's going to have to turn it up a notch. Michigan, where luck and strategy often play a large role in deciding the victor, could be the place for him to snap his slump and make a run at the Chase.

2. Maybe this will be a breakthrough weekend for Ford

The Blue Oval is still winless on the season in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series, but Michigan has always been a strong track for the manufacturer.

Jack Roush, a Michigan native who remains deeply loyal to his homestate and the automobile industry, loves this particular race track. And he should – his teams have won 11 Cup races at Michigan.

But he heads into Sunday with questions swirling about Ford's inability to get to victory lane this season. Although Roush Fenway Racing drivers Matt Kenseth (fourth), Carl Edwards (ninth) and Greg Biffle (10th) are all in Chase contention, they aren't challenging for wins. Along with teammate David Ragan, the four RFR drivers have combined for just seven top-five finishes this season and have led a grand total of 171 laps – or 555 fewer than Kurt Busch by himself.

Roush spent three days at his North Carolina shop this weekend in an effort to motivate the organization.

"I'm looking the guys in the eyes and saying, 'OK, are we missing something here? Has anybody seen something that they think is different or revolutionary?' " Roush explained.

One bonus this weekend is that nine Fords will have the new FR9 engine, up from the four cars that used it last weekend at Pocono.

"The engine is without a flaw," Roush boasted. "It makes marginally more power; it has a very efficient cooling system, has a very efficient combustion process. It will get marginally better fuel economy. There is certainly nothing about the FR9 engine that has slowed us down this year in terms of ability to win a race or to be competitive."

3. On the flipside is Dodge

Very few expected Dodge to have more success than Ford at this stage of the season, considering all its handicaps. With just one official NASCAR organization and the most precarious financial footing of the Big Three automakers, Dodge was expected to be overmatched on the race track.

Instead, it heads into Michigan on a roll in NASCAR's top two series.

Kurt Busch is fresh off a sweep at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he won the $1 million All-Star race and made the Coca-Cola 600 – his second points victory of the season. He's currently ranked fifth in the Cup standings and, as noted above, has led more laps than any driver in the Cup series.

In the Nationwide Series, Brad Keselowski has a healthy lead in the points standings and has teamed with Justin Allgaier to give Penske Racing four wins this season. That commitment to the Nationwide Series has helped the entire Penske program, which is thriving under its support from Dodge.

"We've made big steps this year," team owner Roger Penske said Thursday. "Kurt has delivered the goods. Dodge has been a terrific help. They put all their resources with us."

That's fulfilling a promise made by Ralph Gilles, the president and CEO of Dodge Car Brand. He's vowed to do more with less, and is clearly delivering right now for Dodge.

4. Keep an eye on Tony Stewart

Smoke made some big promises following his third-place finish at Pocono. Upset with crazy driver moves on several late restarts, the two-time champion vowed to make some action of his own.

"For anybody that's looking for drama for the next couple races, start looking 'cause I can promise I'm going to start making the highlight reel the next couple weeks," he said.

That's big talk from a guy who spent most of last Sunday outside the top 10 and is having a very disappointing second season as owner/driver. He was the points leader at this time last year, but now sits outside the top 12 – albeit only one point away from moving into a Chase spot.

But everybody knows this is Stewart's strongest point of the season. He heats up in the summer, and typically makes his charge between now and the end of August.

"We are headed into a section of the season I'm definitely looking forward to," he said. "There's a string of tracks coming up, and it started at Pocono, where I'm comfortable, because I know, historically, we're good at them. Every week you start over on Friday. We have a fresh start Friday morning and we will work hard to make it as good as we can."

Stewart has 14 top-10 finishes at Michigan and one victory, in 2000.