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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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May 22, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Verizon Indy Car driver Scott Dixon waits in the qualifying line during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
May 22, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Verizon Indy Car driver Scott Dixon waits in the qualifying line during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 3 – Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 2008

In 2008, it’s amazing that anyone other than Scott Dixon even had a chance to win the championship. Heading into the series finale, the only driver that had a chance to pass Dixon was Helio Castroneves.

With three races to go in the season, Scott Dixon had already tied the all-time single season wins record with six, with one of those six being a dominant victory in the Indianapolis 500. At that point in time, Helio Castroneves had not won a race all season.

Coming into the season finale, Castroneves had finished on the podium in the past six races, including one win, but still needed a miracle to pass Dixon, as he trailed him in the championship standings by 30 points. The two battled for the lead late in the race, and the only thing that would have given Castroneves a chance was if Dixon crashed. The two battled hard but clean, but despite being one of the closest finishes in IndyCar history, Dixon had the championship locked up.

Yes, it was so close that IndyCar even got the winner of the race wrong at first, as you can see in the video. Even though Helio Castroneves won the race despite the initial call that Dixon won it, that 2nd place finish didn’t stop Dixon from still ending the season in a tie for the all-time single season wins record. It also didn’t change the fact that he won his second championship in six seasons and did so by a 17-point margin, a margin that ended up being the largest from 2006 to 2010, and was 133 points ahead of 3rd place.