ADVENT CALENDAR DOOR 10 – 10 of the closest IndyCar/Indy NXT Championship Finishes
IndyCar and its support series, Indy NXT, provide some of the closest and most entertaining racing from the motorsport world. Over time they have provided some intensely fought championships battles, coming down to just single digits or even count back on some occasions.
Today we will look at ten of closest championship finishes from highest to lowest across the Indycar and Indy NXT championships.
For Indycar we are considering championship results post 2008 and for Indy NXT(Indy Lights/Indy Pro Series) post 2002.
2017 Indycar season: Champion: Josef Newgarden, -13 Simon Pagenaud
Team Penske teammates Newgarden and Pagenaud had a hard fought battle in the 2017 season as it came down to the final race, with other Penske teammate Helio Castroneves and Chip Gannassi driver Scott Dixon also in contention heading into the season finale at Sonoma.
Dixon and Castroneves would take a win each, whilst Pagenaud would take home two victories and eventual champion, Newgarden taking four visits to victory lane in 2017.
Newgarden and Pagenaud finished 18th and 9th respectively at the penultimate race of the season in Watkins Glen, giving both Dixon and Castroneves an outside shot.
Newgarden lead the standings heading into the race at Sonoma and started the race on pole position.
Penske decided to split the title protagonists strategies with Newgarden given the three stop option, whilst Pagenaud opted for the four stop strategy over the 85 lap race.
Reigning champion Pagenaud perfected his strategy coming across the line to win the season finale, but unfortunately for him teammate Newgarden would come home just behind him in second to win his first Indycar title by a margin of just thirteen points.
Dixon finished 21 points behind, whilst Castroneves finished 44 behind Newgarden.
‘To finally get it done is a dream come true’ said Newgarden after winning his first Indycar championship.
2013 Indy Lights season: Champion: Sage Karam, -11 Gabby Chaves, -19 Carlos Munoz
With just eight full time drivers for the 2013 Indy Lights campaign it would be an intense championship fight for the title.
Carlos Munoz impressed early on, winning two of the first three races, with the opening win going to now IMSA regular Jack Hawksworth who went on to finish fourth in the standings. Whilst Karam and Chaves enjoyed a promising start with both being regular features on the podiums.
Chaves would take one win at Mid Ohio, whilst Karam would take three wins. With consistent podium finishes from all three drivers, they headed into the season finale at the Auto Club Speedway for four way title fight as Hawksworth had an outside chance to take the championship.
Munoz needed both Karam and Chaves to have a poor result in the final race of the year, whilst Chaves needed Karam to also have a poor result.
Munoz maximised his chances as he crossed the line first to take the win in the season finale. However, he was forced out of championship contention as Chaves came home in second behind him.
Ultimately, Sage Karam did enough as he competed the podium places to take the championship win by eleven points over Gabby Chaves. The 2013 Indy Lights season was an excellent one to watch, with the championship contested by four very talented drivers.
Karam has gone on to make several race starts in the Indycar series, including a seventh place finish at the 2021 Indy 500.
2009 Indycar season: Champion: Dario Franchitti, -11 Scott Dixon, -12 Ryan Briscoe
The 2009 season was an absolute classic, with a three way title fight between Chip Ganassi teammates Franchitti and Dixon, along with Penske driver Ryan Briscoe.
Whilst eventual champion Franchitti and Dixon took five wins a piece, Briscoe with only three wins was the most consistent throughout the year.
The Aussie finished an impressive eleven out of seventeen races on the podium, specifically in the top two. Whilst also finishing just two races between round five and the season finale outside the top five.
Briscoe entered the penultimate race of the season with a 25 point gap over Dario Franchitti as the championship headed to Motegi for the Indy Japan 300.
Ryan was leading the race until he span whilst exiting the pits and hit the pit wall. He came back to finish 18th to remain in championship contention.
Dixon won at the Twin Ring Motegi giving him a championship lead of five points over teammate Franchitti who was a further three points ahead of Briscoe heading into the season finale Homestead Miami.
The race at Homestead was the series first ever full length caution free oval race. It was dominated by the three championship protagonists as they were the only drivers to finish on the lead lap. Franchitti was on pole position ahead of Dixon, with Briscoe just behind in third.
Dixon and Briscoe ran 1st and 2nd late on with Franchitti far behind in third, however fuel consumption was beginning to become an issue. Both Dixon and Briscoe were forced to pit in the final eight laps, whilst Franchitti was able to manage his fuel to the very end.
The Scotsman crossed the line to win the race along with his second Indycar title. Dixon finished third to seal second in the championship eleven points behind his teammate, with Briscoe finishing the race in second to remain in third the standings a point behind Dixon after squandering his dominant position heading into the final two races of the season.
2012 Indy Lights season: Champion: Tristan Vautier, -8 Esteban Guerrieri
Incredible consistency from both Vautier and Guerrieri throughout the 2012 season provided a close title fight between the pair. They both only finished outside the top six once, with Guerrieri finishing inside the top 10 in every race.
Three wins and an average finish of third for Guerrieri compared to two wins and an average finish of fourth for Vautier meant that heading into the final three races Guerrieri would have a 26 point lead over his title rival.
Vautier would go on to take victories in both of the next two races along with the bonus points for most race laps led in both races to give himself a small points lead in the championship as they headed to Auto Club Speedway for the season finale.
Both drivers had been outstandingly consistent throughout the year, therefore Guerrieri needed Vautier to have uncharacteristic drive in the final race.
The Argentinian came home third in the season finale being unable to maximise his points to give himself the best chance of winning the championship.
However, Vautier came home just behind in fourth meaning he would still be eight points ahead of Guerrieri and take home the Indy Lights title in his rookie season.
2010 Indycar season: Champion: Dario Franchitti, -5 Will Power
The second appearance on this list for Dario Franchitti and once again the smallest of championship margins goes his way in back to back years, this time over Will Power.
Franchitti remained at Chip Ganassi for the 2010 season, whilst Will Power was driving for Team Penske.
Early on it was very much in favour of Will Power, the Aussie took wins in the opening two races with further finishes of fourth in third to round out the first four races of the season.
Power would then have three difficult races which allowed Franchitti and Scott Dixon to fight back against the Penske driver. However, Power would then go on to win three of the next six races, along with two second places and a fifth place finish in Iowa.
Apart from a 18th place finish in Iowa, Franchitti would remain close with a run of strong podium finishes.
Heading into the final four races Power had five wins to his name, whereas Franchitti had only three, giving Power a strong points lead as he looked to win his first Indycar championship.
Franchitti would go on to have a better finish in all four of the remaining races. Firstly, at Chicagoland Speedway, despite qualifying third, Power would finish 16th due to a malfunctioning fuel hose as Franchitti took the win. The Scotsman would finish fifth and second in the next two races, whereas Power finished eighth and third.
Power still remained championship leader heading into the season finale at Homestead meaning a strong result would allow the Aussie to take the championship. Franchitti would line up on pole for the final race, with teammate Scott Dixon alongside and Will Power just behind in third.
Dixon would win the final race of the 2010 season, with teammate Franchitti only managing to finish eighth despite leading the most laps throughout the race.
However, Will Power retired after clipping the wall in the latter half the race whilst trying to lap a slower car. Therefore, Franchitti had scored just enough points to take his third Indycar championship by just five points.
‘I’m very proud of the achievement’ said Franchitti after sealing the 2010 Indycar championship.
2006 Indy Pro Series season: Champion: Jay Howard, -4 Jonathan Klein, -11 Wade Cunningham
The 2006 Indy Lights season was another close title fight in Indycar’s main support series. Jay Howard who now has his own Road to Indy team was driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.
Klein was racing for Andretti Green Racing, whilst Cunningham was racing for Brian Stewart Racing.
Howard would have a strong start to the season with two thirds and two seconds in the opening four races.
Whereas, Klein would only have two top five finishes in the first four races. Cunningham finished tenth in the season opener, but would then go on to miss the next two races, but return for the Freedom 100 at IMS and take the win.
Howard would have an inconsistent season after that including two wins and a further podium. Klein however would finish six of the remaining races on the podium despite not taking a single win throughout the season compared to the two victories for Howard.
It was arguably the slow start to the season that saw Klein miss out on the championship.
However, the focus of the season has to be on Wade Cunningham. After winning the Freedom 100, Cunningham would finish every race apart from the race at IMS road course in the top five.
He also took the most victories in the season with three. If he hadn’t missed rounds two and three due to an emergency operation to get his appendix removed he would likely have won the championship.
Luckily for Jay Howard he would just out score Klein by four points to win the 2006 Indy Lights championship.
2012 Indycar season: Champion: Ryan Hunter Reay, -3 Will Power
Once again Will Power missed out on the title by single digits. This time by just three points to Ryan Hunter Reay. Power was once again racing with Team Penske, whilst Hunter Reay was driving for Andretti.
The 2012 season was quite a weird one, with both championship contenders having a lot of inconsistencies and a few poor results.
Power would have the early bragging rights after winning three consecutive races after finishing the season opener in seventh. Power would then finish the Indy 500 in 28th place, with Hunter Reay just in front in 27th.
Hunter Reay scored two podiums in the opening four races of the 2012 season.
Power wouldn’t win again that year, featuring on the podium just three more times. He also had multiple finishes outside the top 10 and top 20.
Hunter Reay would win four races in his 2012 campaign, including three consecutive wins between Milwaukee and Toronto.
Power would head into the penultimate race with a sizeable points gap over Hunter Reay. However, he could only manage a sixth place finish at the Grand Prix of Baltimore despite leading the most laps. Hunter Reay would close the gap heading into the season finale as he took the win.
Power would qualify third for the final race, with Hunter Reay down in 17th. Once again Power would lose the championship in the final race after he crashed out early on in the race. Ryan Hunter Reay would recover to fourth to seal his championship win by just three points ahead of Will Power.
‘I feel bad for my guys to be three years in a row so close’ said Will Power after narrowly missing out on another Indycar title.
2016 Indy Lights season: Champion-Ed Jones, -2 Santiago Urrutia
Ed Jones and Santiago Urrutia would battle it out for the 2016 Indy Lights championship. Despite a disappointing start to the season Urrutia woudl go on to win four races and three further podiums, whilst also finishing the majority of the races in the top five.
Jones also had a disappointing start to the season, but after the first two races he would go on to claim two wins, six further podiums and only finish two races outside the top six.
As the championship entered the final four races of the season, Jones would have a five point lead over Urrutia.
The Uruguayan would win the second race at Mid Ohio whilst Jones finished 11th, however, at the next race Watkins Glen Jones would finish second with Urrutia in 12th effectively cancelling out his points gain from Mid Ohio.
A similar thing would happen in the final two races as they once again matched each other almost perfectly. Urrutia would finish second and fifth, whereas Jones would finish second and fourth.
That small margin allowed him to remain just two points ahead of Santiago Urrutia to win the 2016 Indy Lights title. The remarkable consistency for both drivers provided an excellent championship battle.
2014 Indy Lights season: Champion-Gabby Chaves, tied with Jack Harvey
The closest margin in the history of the Indy NXT by Firestone championship saw the 2014 edition of the championship end in a tie. Gabby Chaves and Zach Veach took the early championship fight as both won two of the first four races, with Veach finishing all of them on the podium.
Veach would only go on to win once more, with a few other podiums and being a regular feature in the top five. However, this wasn’t enough to mount a full title charge.
Chaves would have two disappointing results at IMS road course, finishing 11th and 8th. After that, he was massively impressive winning the next two races and finishing on the podium in every race after that.
Jack Harvey started the season relatively strong with several podiums. However, it was the second half of the season where he was dominant.
He would finish on the podium in six of the last seven races and won four of the last five races including the season finale double header at Sonoma.
This left both Chaves and Harvey tied on 547 points after the final race. The championship would then have to be decided on count back, however, they were also tied on four race wins each.
It would go down to number of second place finishes. Harvey had only one, whereas Chaves had four, solidifying himself as 2016 Indy Lights Champion through nothing other than consistency over Jack Harvey.
It was an epic title fight between two highly rated drivers who both went on to make numerous appearances in the NTT Indycar Series.
2015 IndyCar season: Champion: Scott Dixon, tied with Juan Pablo Montoya
One of the most entraining Indycar seasons ever saw the 2015 championship also end in a tie. It was fought out between Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon and Team Penske’s Juan Pablo Montoya.
Montoya would start the season stronger with two wins and two further podiums in the opening six races. Dixon finished the first two races in 15th and 11th respectively, but would go on to pick up a win and a podium across the next four races.
Throughout the middle part of the season both were fairly inconsistent with multiple poor results. Montoya wouldn’t actually win again that season, whilst Dixon was able to win at Texas Motor Speedway during the middle portion of 2015.
Heading into the final four races both had two wins a piece and fairly similar results, therefore it would come down to who had the best end to the season.
Both had disappointing results in Iowa as Dixon finished 18th and Montoya behind in 24th. Dixon would rebound to a fourth place finish at Mid Ohio, whilst Montoya could only manage 11th place.
At the penultimate race of the 2015 season at Pocono, Montoya would finish third whilst Dixon fell back to ninth, leaving it all to play for at the season finale at Sonoma.
Heading into the final round six drivers remained in contention for the championship, but focus was of course on Montoya and Dixon. Montoya led the championship into Sonoma.
Montoya would start the race in fifth, with Dixon only managing to qualify ninth. Dixon would go to lead the majority of the race and take home the win in the season finale.
Meanwhile, Montoya could only bring home his Penske car in sixth, meaning the pair were tied on 556 points. However, with the win at Sonoma, Dixon would take his victory total to three compared to the two wins for Montoya.
This meant that Dixon would seal his fourth Indycar title on count back over former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya. Dixon has gone on to win two more Indycar titles, whereas Montoya left the series after the 2016 season, with the highlight of his Indycar career being his win in the 2015 Indy 500.
What was your favourite Indycar or Indy NXT season? Share your opinion with us!
written by Michael WIlliams // Media Credit: Penske Entertaiment
