The Indycar Championship. Six hopefuls came into Sonoma eligible for the championship. Only one driver came out victorious, in both the season title and the race.
Scott Dixon prevailed on a championship tie-breaker over Juan Montoya, earning his 4th Indycar Championship. He joins the likes of Mario Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais and Dario Franchitti as four time Indycar champions. The only driver who has more is the legendary A.J. Foyt, with 7 championships.
Scott Dixon came into to Sonoma 47 points out of 1st place, somewhat of a long shot to win the championship, but with double points on the line the Iceman still had a fighting chance. While a mid race tussle sent teammates Montoya and Power to the back of the field, Graham Rahal struggled with a ill handling car. Meanwhile Scott Dixon never faltered once, leading the last 22 laps en route to win the race.
Montoya gave it all he had in the final 10 laps. He needed to pass 3 cars to get to 5th place, to secure the championship. Sebastien Bourdais helped him out when he punted Graham Rahal off the track, and ended up getting a drive-through penalty. With the two of them quickly out of the way Montoya was tie with Dixon and just one pass away from his second championship in his 4 year Indycar career. Unfortunately for Montoya he was unable to catch the fifth place car of Ryan Briscoe, and as the front five cars remained in position as they crossed the finish line. Juan ended up 6th for the race, and lost the championship on a tiebreaker, his two wins to Dixon's three.
1. Scott Dixon gave the crowd a huge show at Sonoma, coming back from 47 points down in third to win the title. The win marked Chip Ganassis and 100th Indycar win and his 11th Indycar championship . Can't wait until next year to see Scott go for 5!
2. Juan Montoya won the 1999 Indycar championship on a tie breaker with Dario Franchitti and now loses on a tie breaker. He has been involved in two of the three Championship ties in Indycar history.
3. Will Power finished third. His average finish in the Championship for the past 6 years is 2.3, finishing 2nd 3 years in a row.
4. Graham Rahal had a previous best Championship finish of 7th and was 19th last year.
5. Helio Castroneves finishes in the top five, yet again and misses out on his first championship.
6. Ryan Hunter-Reay has a great second half of the season. Could it carry over into 2016?
7. Josef Newgarden dropped one position in the standings and happens to be behind RHR, who he finished behind in two races this season as RHR won at Iowa and Pocono.
8. Tony Kanaan did his job for Chip Ganassi Racing in helping Scott Dixon win the Championship, while finishing a solid top ten.
9. Marco Andretti was consistent this year, completing all the laps until Pocono. Will next year be his year, as with Graham Rahal this year?
10. Sebastien Bourdais dominated Milwaukee and was one of the two time winners this year. But he certainly isn't on the Rahals friend list after punting Rahal late in the race.
I'm gonna suggest Indy Car Drivers meetings are held in French so that instructions not to hit Championship contenders are understood!
— Bobby Rahal (@BobRahal) August 31, 2015
What will the 2016 season hold? Will Scott Dixon win his fifth Championship? Can Graham Rahal do 3 positions better? Can Helio finally win his first championship?
And now the Silly Season officially begins.
Where will drivers like Josef Newgarden, Ryan Briscoe, James Jakes and others end up? We'll just have to wait and find out.
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