I was looking at the season standings so far because I keep a running count of how things would look if drivers not declared for Cup points earned them just like everybody else does, and noticed something frustrating: several people are at the same # of points with no obvious way to separate them.

• Kaz Grala has run 1 race (Daytona 500), in which he finished 28th
• Scott Heckert has run 1 race (Daytona RC), in which he finished 28th
• JJ Yeley (ineligible for Cup points but I'm including him as if he wasn't), in which he finished 28th

None of the three have had any stage T10s this year, so they all are/would be tied in the standings right now with 9 points each.

Normally, ties in one of the three national series are broken by a countback for the most wins, then by the most P2s if the tied drivers have the same number of wins, then by the most P3s if they have the same number of P2s, and so on. But that's not possible in this situation... because each of the three has the same best finish and no others to go by.

Some places I've seen in my research say that this sort of points scenario works the same way a race finishing in a dead heat at the line would: the driver with the most laps led wins the tiebreaker (which would put Grala, who has 10 laps led, ahead of the other two, who have not led any laps), then if the tied drivers have the same # of laps led it goes to whoever had the most laps in P2, then if that's still tied it goes to whoever had the most laps in P3, and so on. Based on loop data for their respective races this season, Heckert had a highest position of 19th while Yeley's highest was 21st, so Heckert would be ranked second among the three.

Other sources say that the driver out of the tied group who achieved the shared best finish before the others is the determining factor. Under that rule, the order would be Grala (finished 28th in Race #1), then Heckert (finished 28th in Race #2), and then Yeley (finished 28th in Race #7)- coincidentally the same as the first way.

Nobody seems to be sure about which methodology applies to this situation, though. Is there an even bigger nerd than me who knows what the protocol is for this situation, or just someone who knows another person that might know the answer?

If all else fails I'll check with Bob on Twitter, but he gets enough stupid questions day in and day out so I figured I'd ask here first.