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IndyCar: Ranking the Past 10 Series Champions

By Asher Fair

Sep 18, 2016; Sonoma, CA, USA; Hewlett Packard Enterprise driver Simon Pagenaud (center) celebrates his win and the title with Verizon Team Penske driver Juan Pablo Montoya (right) and Steak’n Shake driver Graham Rahal (left) after the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 18, 2016; Sonoma, CA, USA; Hewlett Packard Enterprise driver Simon Pagenaud (center) celebrates his win and the title with Verizon Team Penske driver Juan Pablo Montoya (right) and Steak’n Shake driver Graham Rahal (left) after the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 1, 2016; Avondale, AZ, USA; Verizon IndyCar Series driver Ryan Hunter-Reay during qualifying for the Phoenix Grand Prix at Phoenix International Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 1, 2016; Avondale, AZ, USA; Verizon IndyCar Series driver Ryan Hunter-Reay during qualifying for the Phoenix Grand Prix at Phoenix International Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 9 – Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport, 2012

Coming into the season finale in 2012, not only did Ryan Hunter-Reay trail Will Power by 17 points for the championship lead; he had finished just one of the past three races in the top 17. It appeared likely that Will Power would finally be victorious after blowing championship leads by wrecking in the season finales the past two seasons.

Ryan Hunter-Reay didn’t have a spectacular season. All season long, he was hot and cold. In a season that included a three-race winning streak, he came into the championship having finishing in the top 17 just once over the last three races. But that once was a win leading up to the season finale. The inconsistency he showed was mind-boggling.

Running beside Will Power early on in the season finale at Fontana, Hunter-Reay just escaped a car spinning up the track before it wrecked. The driver who wrecked was, in fact, Will Power for the third consecutive season while leading the championship standings in a season finale. With the given points situation, Hunter-Reay needed a top 5 finish to win the championship, and he finished in 4th. While there was certainly pressure on him, Power wasn’t there to apply it.

Hunter-Reay certainly did well when it mattered most and was able to do extremely well in the clutch to earn his first championship. But at the end of the day, everything had to go right for him in crunch time, and everything did, as he won the championship by three points over Power.