Beyond the Flag
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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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Sep 18, 2016; Sonoma, CA, USA; Hewlett Packard Enterprise driver Simon Pagenaud races during 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 races during the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 9 – 2016 Championship Battle

For the first time in three seasons of double points being offered in the final race of the season, only two drivers came into the 2016 season finale at Sonoma eligible to win the championship. And the only reason that more than one driver had even a sliver of hope to win it was because of the double points on offer.

When Will Power, who trailed Simon Pagenaud by 43 points coming into the season finale, had mechanical issues in the middle of the race, everyone knew the championship battle was over. With Pagenaud at that point not only dominating the race but the championship as well, there was no reason to continue watching.

While theoretically the 2016 championship battle was the 11th in a row to be decided in the final race of the season, there was hardly anything left to be decided even coming into the race given Pagenaud’s points gap on Power, much less after Power had mechanical issues.

Pagenaud ultimately ended up winning the race in dominant fashion as well as the championship in a similar dominant fashion. He ended up being 127 points ahead of 2nd place Will Power, who missed a race earlier in the season. Pagenaud finished 155 points higher than 3rd place Helio Castroneves, the highest finishing driver other than Pagenaud who raced in every race in the 2016 season.