Energy management

The perennial contest finish argument is always entertaining.
May I, as an ignorant bystander, ask a related question
without being strafed too much ? If a finisher has
the energy for a fast low pass and then pullup to a
safe pattern, how much time along the course was spent
to acquire that energy to be dissipated after the task
is over ? Seems to me that there must be some points
loss involved, even if it's small. Except of course
for someone who is sure he has won by a large margin
and will get his 1000 - but even then, there is a points
gain for all the other competitors.

Ian