New points system defended

The sanctioning body has yet to reveal details of its new points system, although it is likely to see the leading drivers after 26 races compete for the championship over the final 10 events of the year. Since NASCAR announced it was changing its points system, it has received widespread criticism from both drivers and fans.

"Certainly it's not a playoff," said France. "No matter what we do, it will not be a playoff format. A playoff implies a lot of things - best two-out-of-three, single-elimination. We're not talking about something like that. We're talking about something that still has a big element of consistency."

France said that the thinking behind the new system was to promote more competitive racing.

"What we do know is we've got a system that's too much balanced on consistency," he said. "We want consistency. We've got a long year. We've got a lot of different tracks. It should play a big role. [But] we think it plays too much of a role, and that's the balance we're after now."

France acknowledged the widespread criticism of the new system, but said that when it was introduced people would come to accept it.

"I'm a huge fan of all kinds of sports, and when any change is made, I typically go, 'Gosh, I wish they wouldn't do that.' That's a natural reaction. Nobody wants their sport to change and go backwards. We think the kind of changes we're talking about, our race fans are going to love it. You're going to see our fans gravitate to that."