History
The Grand National was NASCAR's top championship series from 1949 until 1971, when R. J. Reynolds began sponsoring it as the Winston Cup series.
NASCAR lists the original Grand National champions as Winston Cup champions, in part to avoid confusion with the current Busch Grand National series, which was formerly the Late Model Sportsman series.
The Winston Cup championship was based on a point system. A driver was awarded points ranging from 175 for a victory down to 28 for a 45th-place finish. In addition, 5 bonus points were awarded for leading a lap and another 5 bonus points went to the driver leading a race for the most laps.
There was a lot of dissatisfaction with that format, because it often rewarded a driver who finished consistently well without necessarily winning many races. In 2003, Matt Kenseth was the Winston Cup champion despite winning only one race while Ryan Newman, who won eight races, finished sixth.
Nextel Communication took over sponsorship from R. J. Reynolds in 2004 and a new system was established for the renamed Nextel Cup championship. After the first 26 races, the top 12 point leaders are entered into a "Chase for the Championship" over the final 10 races of the season.
Each of the 12 finalists begins the chase with 5,000 points plus 10 points for every race he won in the first 26 races. Scoring for the "Chase for the Championship" races is the same as for the previous 26 races, but only those top 12 drivers are eligible to win the championship.
In 2008, the trophy became known as the Sprint Cup and the final 10-race sequence was renamed the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The Sprint Corporation had purchased Nextel Communication in 2005.