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IndyCar: Ranking the Past 10 Series Championship Battles

By Asher Fair

Aug 30, 2015; Sonoma, CA, USA; 2nd place IndyCar Series driver Ryan Hunter-Reay, first place IndyCar Series driver Scott Dixon and 3rd place IndyCar Series driver Charlie Kimball raise their respective trophies after the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 30, 2015; Sonoma, CA, USA; 2nd place IndyCar Series driver Ryan Hunter-Reay, first place IndyCar Series driver Scott Dixon and 3rd place IndyCar Series driver Charlie Kimball raise their respective trophies after the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 13, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; IndyCar Series driver Dario Franchitti during the Honda Indy Toronto through the streets of downtown Toronto. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 13, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; IndyCar Series driver Dario Franchitti during the Honda Indy Toronto through the streets of downtown Toronto. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 1 – 2009 Championship Battle

The three drivers involved in the 2009 championship battle, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe, had separated themselves by over 150 points to 4th place in the standings heading into the season finale. The 2009 championship was a three-driver race with just nine points separating the top 3 heading into the season’s final race at Homestead.

To the surprise of not many people, they all finished in the top 3 in the season’s final race, but the finishing order was not determined until the final pit stops of the race. Dario Franchitti came out on top, which propelled him to his second career championship, both of which having been won by making it to the end of the race on fuel while the other championship contenders did not. Had either of the other two drivers been victorious, they would have won the championship as well.

The top 3 drivers ended up finishing within 12 points of each other in the final championship standings. Other than the top 3, just one other driver was within 210 points of the top 3 in the standings. Franchitti, Dixon and Briscoe were on another level all season long, and

Next: IndyCar: Past 10 Series Champion Rankings

Which championship battles do you think have been the best in IndyCar history? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to follow me on Instagram as well as Beyond the Flag on both Instagram and Twitter. Finally, don’t forget to follow along with Beyond the Flag for the latest news, opinions and analysis stemming from a number of different motorsports series. You don’t want to miss any of it.