North Star Racing Unveils New Full-Season Championship Format for 2027
New scoring system will eliminate The Chase, replace stages with a green-flag mid-race bonus and create more championship opportunities throughout the season
North Star Racing will introduce a completely redesigned championship and points format for the 2027 season, built around one central principle: the entire season should matter.
Beginning in 2027, the championship will be decided across the complete 36-race schedule without The Chase, elimination rounds or points resets. Rather than concentrating the title battle into a short postseason, the new format is designed to reward victories, consistency, attendance and performance across every type of racetrack from the opening race through the season finale.
36 Races. One Champion.
Under the new format, every race will contribute to one continuous season-long championship.
Drivers will not need to qualify for a playoff field, and winning a race will not automatically override their performance throughout the remainder of the schedule. The driver with the highest adjusted points total after Race 36 will be crowned the 2027 champion.
To provide limited protection from unavoidable absences, technical failures and isolated poor results, each driver’s two lowest performance scores will be removed from the final championship calculation.
The championship formula will be:
Best 34 performance scores + all attendance points − all penalties
Performance scores include finishing points, mid-race bonus points, pole bonuses, lead-a-lap bonuses and most-laps-led bonuses. Attendance points will remain attached to the driver’s season total and cannot be discarded. Championship penalties will also remain in effect regardless of whether the associated race becomes one of the driver’s two dropped results.
This structure gives full-time drivers an advantage while still allowing competitors to recover from a missed race, equipment failure or unusually poor result.
Winning Will Carry Greater Value
Race winners will receive 55 points, creating a 10-point advantage over second place.
The top 10 finishing positions will award:
| Finish | Points |
|---|---|
| 1st | 55 |
| 2nd | 45 |
| 3rd | 42 |
| 4th | 40 |
| 5th | 38 |
| 6th | 36 |
| 7th | 35 |
| 8th | 34 |
| 9th | 33 |
| 10th | 32 |
Beginning with 11th place, the scoring will decrease by one point per finishing position through 40th. Drivers finishing 41st or lower will receive one finishing point.
The larger reward for winning is intended to encourage drivers to pursue victories without making consistency irrelevant. A strong collection of top-five and top-10 finishes will remain essential across a 36-race campaign.
Mid-Race Bonus Points Replace Stages
Traditional stages and scheduled stage cautions will be removed in 2027.
Instead, the top 10 drivers at the halfway point of each race will earn Mid-Race Bonus Points:
| Halfway position | Bonus |
|---|---|
| 1st | 5 |
| 2nd | 4 |
| 3rd | 3 |
| 4th | 2 |
| 5th | 2 |
| 6th–10th | 1 each |
Unlike traditional stages, the halfway checkpoint will not automatically produce a caution. The race will continue under green, preserving tire strategy, fuel mileage, green-flag pit cycles and long-run racing.
When the race remains green, the order will be recorded as the leader completes the designated halfway lap.
When a caution begins before halfway and continues through the halfway mark, the bonus order will instead be frozen at the moment the caution is declared. Pit stops, wave-arounds, Lucky Dog procedures and changes in the pacing order will not alter that frozen running order.
If the race returns to green before the halfway lap is completed, Mid-Race Bonus Points will be awarded normally at the halfway line.
The system rewards drivers who perform throughout the race without artificially regrouping the field.
Additional Ways to Earn Points
Four additional one-point bonuses will be available at each standard event:
- Pole position
- Leading at least one lap
- Leading the most laps
- Making an official race start
A driver who wins the race, leads at halfway, earns the pole, leads a lap, leads the most laps and receives the attendance point can earn a maximum of 64 points in a standard event.
Four Segments. Four Titles.
The full schedule will also be divided into four nine-race segments:
- Opening Stretch: Races 1–9
- Spring Showdown: Races 10–18
- Summer Stretch: Races 19–27
- Champ Run: Races 28–36
Each segment will have its own independent standings and champion.
These standings will not reset or alter the overall championship. Instead, they will create additional title opportunities for drivers throughout the season while the complete 36-race standings continue uninterrupted.
A driver who struggles during one portion of the schedule can regroup and compete for the next segment title without diminishing the accomplishments of the drivers leading the overall championship.
Challenger Championship Begins After Race 27
Drivers outside the top 12 in the overall standings following Race 27 will enter a separate Challenger Championship during the final nine races.
Challenger standings will begin at zero, while every driver will continue scoring normally toward the overall championship.
Eligibility will be locked after Race 27. A Challenger driver who later advances into the overall top 12 will remain eligible for the Challenger title.
This gives drivers outside the primary championship battle a meaningful late-season objective during the Champ Run while still allowing them to improve their final overall position and compete for race victories.
Team Championship Adds Another Season-Long Battle
The 2027 format will also feature a separate Team Championship.
Teams may include up to three full-time drivers. At each event, the two highest individual scores from the team will count toward its championship total.
All 36 races will count toward the Team Championship, and teams will not receive dropped results. Attendance points will not be included in team scoring.
This format ensures that drivers can remain valuable to their organization even when their individual championship position changes during the year.
A Championship Built Around the Complete Season
The redesigned format is intended to provide more meaningful objectives without sacrificing the legitimacy of the overall championship.
Drivers will be able to compete for:
- The overall 36-race championship
- Four individual segment titles
- The Challenger Championship
- The Team Championship
- Race victories and performance bonuses
At the same time, the removal of scheduled stage cautions will allow races to develop more naturally and place greater emphasis on tire management, fuel strategy, long-run speed and pit execution.
The result is a championship system designed to reward the complete body of work while giving drivers more reasons to remain engaged through the final race.
36 races. One champion. Every race matters.