If the AMA Awarded WSC Points...
Thanks to the power of technology here at amasuperbike.com, we were able to plug in the points scoring system used in the World Superbike Championship and see what that would do to the current AMA standings with one round left.
We kept the one point for pole and one point for leading most laps, and just used the WSC's 25 points for a win, 20 for second etc. down to a single point for fifteenth.
Pos. Bike # Name Points 1 11 Ben Bostrom 155 2 1 Doug Chandler 154 3 17 Miguel DuHamel 153 4 66 Mat Mladin 152 5 95 Anthony Gobert 148 6 20 Aaron Yates 125 7 92 James Hacking 108 8 97 Rich Oliver 95 9 14 Steve Crevier 81 10 16 Tom Kipp 79
The result shows that going into the final round, any of the top four riders could win the championship with a win (including Mladin, who with a WSC points win would be on 177, and even if Bostrom came second and got pole and lead most laps, he too would be on 177 and lose because Mladin had more wins).
Of course, this must be taken with a pinch of salt, as the riders know the current AMA points system and are therefore more inclined to settle for a given position and go for the championship. Under a WSC points system, they may well have been more inclined to try harder for wins earlier in the year and therefore upset the above standings.