All too often, racing championships are decided by points. If a driver doesn’t need to win the last race of the season to seal the title, he’ll push no harder than he needs to rather than risk crashing out.
It may be smart on the driver’s part, but less than spectacular for the fans. But this year’s IndyCar championship went down ended with a bigger spectacle.
Going into the double-points season finale at Sonoma yesterday, only two drivers were in contention for the title: Simon Pagenaud and Will Power – both of them driving for Penske under Chevrolet power. Pagenaud held a commanding 43-point lead over his teammate (and chief rival), which meant that, in order to take the championship, Will needed Simon to have a bad day. But things went the other way on Sunday.
Pagenaud took pole position in a Penske top-four lockout, with teammates Helio Castoneves and Juan Pablo Montoya separating him from Power. After the first pit stops, Pagenaud opened up a 5.4-second gap ahead of his nearest challenger. Power was tragically taken out by a gearbox problem less than halfway through the race, effectively handing the title to Pagenaud.
That took the pressure off of Pagenaud, but rather than nurse it, he took the checkered flag over three seconds ahead of Graham Rahal in second and Montoya in third. It was a dominant win for Pagenaud, his ninth IndyCar victory to date – and a hell of a way to take his first title.
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