Nate Ryan

USA TODAY Sports

Brian France wants to shift to a system that rewards winning more strongly

The Chase for the Sprint Cup added bonus points for victories starting in 2007

France also discussed the return of a No. 3 car and the success of Jimmie Johnson

NASCAR seems to be moving toward another overhaul to its points system to put an emphasis on winning.

For the second time in five weeks, chairman Brian France said NASCAR was re-evaulating its structure, which was last tweaked in 2011. That change mostly was for simplification – making each position worth a point – and had a negligible impact on how drivers and teams approached racing for the championship. At the format's unveiling, president Mike Helton said NASCAR didn't want to put heavier weight on winning because "that's not our culture. ... It's a very long season, 36 races. NASCAR racing is balancing wins with continuity."

But now it seems an emphasis on consistency might be falling out of favor.

"We're not satisfied we have the exact balance we want with winning, consistency, points, running for a championship," France said Tuesday night during his annual appearance on Motor Racing Network's "NASCAR Live," a national call-in show for fans. "We think we can make some tweaks that continue to incentivize risk-taking, racing harder and so on. We're looking at that. We'll undoubtedly be coming with things that put the incentive on winning races and competing at the highest level."

NASCAR used a consistency-based points structure from 1975-2003 and kept it mostly intact in '04 when it added the Chase for the Sprint Cup – a 10-race playoff for the title among the top 12 drivers that resets their points totals after 26 races. In '07, NASCAR announced the Chase would be reseeded by awarding bonus points for victories and increased the points total for a win by a nominal amount, but those have been the only changes related to wins.

The possibility of revamping the points system initially as raised by France during his state-of-the-sport address last month in Las Vegas, where he said drivers might not have the right incentives to win.

France also said Tuesday that NASCAR was considering later start times to attract larger prime-time audiences and working on a "format of the future, whatever that is." He didn't expound on that, but NASCAR executives have been mulling changes that could include shortening races, adding halftime breaks and employing heat races to set the field.

"Maybe it's a little different," France said. "Maybe it's more than a little. We're looking at different things."

France's appearance was decidedly less dramatic than last year, when Jeremy Mayfield called to ask whether NASCAR would consider lifting his indefinite suspension since testing positive for methamphetamines in 2009.

Though Mayfield was in the news again Monday (avoiding jail time by pleading guilty to three misdemeanors), he didn't call Tuesday's show.

France took questions from fans on several topics, however:

--On the Sprint Cup Series return of the No. 3, which will be driven by Austin Dillon and fielded by team owner and grandfather Richard Childress for the first time since the 2001 death of Dale Earnhardt in the Daytona 500: "I like it," France said. "I wondered if it was going to happen. Richard wanted to make sure it was the right circumstances, not to bring it back because he could. The way they've done it, keeping it in the family, it's a really neat thing. I'm looking forward to watching the 3 in 2014."

--On whether the success of six-time champion Jimmie Johnson might be hindering NASCAR's popularity: "There's no direct answer to that. Historically, dynasties in sports have always been revered and favored and admired. On the other hand, having different people winning is helpful and impactful. There's no good answer for that. That's sports. When you're the best at something and you dominate, that's up to other teams and drivers to knock him off, and they've not been able to do that."

--France said NASCAR hoped another manufacturer would join Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota in the future. Dodge left last season after winning the 2012 championship. "We were disappointed they decided to take a break," France said. "We would love for them to take another look. At some point, they will. Other manufacturers are always looking. It's very difficult to come in unless you have a long view like Toyota because the best teams are spoken for and under contract. It's not only expensive, but you have to be as a manufacturer ready for the first few years to be difficult, lean and tough."