The 2018 IndyCar season is in the books. How do the sport’s 20 full-time drivers stack up against one another following the season finale?
Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay closed out the 17-race 2018 IndyCar season on a high not by earning his second victory of the season in the IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway.
Hunter-Reay’s victory in the 85-lap race around the 12-turn, 2.385-mile (3.838-kilometer) Sonoma Raceway road course in Sonoma, California was his second victory of the season, and it made him the fifth driver to win multiple races this season. He also won the second race on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan in June.
The four other drivers who won at least two races this season all won three races in 2018. Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon and Team Penske teammates Josef Newgarden and Will Power were the drivers who earned three victories this year.
The only three other drivers who won one race this season were Dale Coyne Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ James Hinchcliffe and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato.
How did Hunter-Reay’s second victory of the season and the rest of the action from the IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma affect the IndyCar Driver Power Rankings? Here are the formulated IndyCar Driver Power Rankings and the non-formulated IndyCar Driver Power Rankings with the 2018 season now officially behind us.
To see how the formulated IndyCar Driver Power Rankings are calculated, click here.
#20 through #16
| Last Rank | 19th (-1) |
| Races | 13 |
| Top 10 finishes | 0 |
| Top 5 finishes | 0 |
| Podium finishes | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Average finish | 16.85 |
| Average finish in last five races | 17.20 |
| Most recent finish | 0th |
| Points in most recent race | 0 |
| Standings position | 20th |
| Points | 187 |
| Last Rank | 20th (+1) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 0 |
| Top 5 finishes | 0 |
| Podium finishes | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Average finish | 17.94 |
| Average finish in last five races | 18.60 |
| Most recent finish | 21st |
| Points in most recent race | 18 |
| Standings position | 19th |
| Points | 223 |
| Last Rank | 18th (-) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 0 |
| Top 5 finishes | 0 |
| Podium finishes | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Average finish | 16.76 |
| Average finish in last five races | 15.80 |
| Most recent finish | 19th |
| Points in most recent race | 22 |
| Standings position | 18th |
| Points | 253 |
| Last Rank | 15th (-2) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 6 |
| Top 5 finishes | 1 |
| Podium finishes | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Average finish | 15.00 |
| Average finish in last five races | 14.60 |
| Most recent finish | 22nd |
| Points in most recent race | 16 |
| Standings position | 17th |
| Points | 287 |
| Last Rank | 17th (+1) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 4 |
| Top 5 finishes | 0 |
| Podium finishes | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Average finish | 13.76 |
| Average finish in last five races | 14.20 |
| Most recent finish | 12th |
| Points in most recent race | 36 |
| Standings position | 16th |
| Points | 312 |
#15 through #11
| Last Rank | 12th (-3) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 5 |
| Top 5 finishes | 2 |
| Podium finishes | 1 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Average finish | 13.59 |
| Average finish in last five races | 12.60 |
| Most recent finish | 24th |
| Points in most recent race | 12 |
| Standings position | 14th |
| Points | 325 |
| Last Rank | 11th (-3) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 8 |
| Top 5 finishes | 4 |
| Podium finishes | 2 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Average finish | 13.24 |
| Average finish in last five races | 14.60 |
| Most recent finish | 25th |
| Points in most recent race | 10 |
| Standings position | 12th |
| Points | 351 |
| Last Rank | 16th (+3) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 8 |
| Top 5 finishes | 2 |
| Podium finishes | 2 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Average finish | 13.24 |
| Average finish in last five races | 13.80 |
| Most recent finish | 10th |
| Points in most recent race | 40 |
| Standings position | 13th |
| Points | 343 |
| Last Rank | 14th (+2) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 5 |
| Top 5 finishes | 2 |
| Podium finishes | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Average finish | 14.06 |
| Average finish in last five races | 10.80 |
| Most recent finish | 14th |
| Points in most recent race | 32 |
| Standings position | 15th |
| Points | 313 |
| Last Rank | 10th (-1) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 12 |
| Top 5 finishes | 3 |
| Podium finishes | 1 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Average finish | 11.12 |
| Average finish in last five races | 15.80 |
| Most recent finish | 23rd |
| Points in most recent race | 14 |
| Standings position | 8th |
| Points | 392 |
#10 through #6
| Last Rank | 9th (-1) |
| Races | 16 |
| Top 10 finishes | 9 |
| Top 5 finishes | 5 |
| Podium finishes | 2 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Average finish | 10.06 |
| Average finish in last five races | 17.20 |
| Most recent finish | 15th |
| Points in most recent race | 30 |
| Standings position | 10th |
| Points | 391 |
| Last Rank | 13th (+4) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 8 |
| Top 5 finishes | 2 |
| Podium finishes | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Average finish | 11.06 |
| Average finish in last five races | 12.40 |
| Most recent finish | 5th |
| Points in most recent race | 60 |
| Standings position | 8th |
| Points | 392 |
| Last Rank | 8th (-) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 8 |
| Top 5 finishes | 5 |
| Podium finishes | 2 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Average finish | 11.12 |
| Average finish in last five races | 8.00 |
| Most recent finish | 6th |
| Points in most recent race | 56 |
| Standings position | 7th |
| Points | 425 |
| Last Rank | 5th (-2) |
| Races | 14 |
| Top 10 finishes | 10 |
| Top 5 finishes | 7 |
| Podium finishes | 4 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Average finish | 8.93 |
| Average finish in last five races | 6.80 |
| Most recent finish | N/A |
| Points in most recent race | 0 |
| Standings position | 10th |
| Points | 391 |
| Last Rank | 7th (+1) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 11 |
| Top 5 finishes | 10 |
| Podium finishes | 6 |
| Wins | 2 |
| Average finish | 8.71 |
| Average finish in last five races | 9.60 |
| Most recent finish | 1st |
| Points in most recent race | 104 |
| Standings position | 4th |
| Points | 566 |
#5 through #1
| Last Rank | 4th (-1) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 14 |
| Top 5 finishes | 4 |
| Podium finishes | 2 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Average finish | 8.59 |
| Average finish in last five races | 6.00 |
| Most recent finish | 4th |
| Points in most recent race | 64 |
| Standings position | 6th |
| Points | 492 |
| Last Rank | 6th (+2) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 11 |
| Top 5 finishes | 8 |
| Podium finishes | 8 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Average finish | 9.47 |
| Average finish in last five races | 6.00 |
| Most recent finish | 3rd |
| Points in most recent race | 71 |
| Standings position | 3rd |
| Points | 582 |
| Last Rank | 3rd (-) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 14 |
| Top 5 finishes | 6 |
| Podium finishes | 3 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Average finish | 7.06 |
| Average finish in last five races | 6.80 |
| Most recent finish | 8th |
| Points in most recent race | 49 |
| Standings position | 5th |
| Points | 560 |
| Last Rank | 2nd (-) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 14 |
| Top 5 finishes | 10 |
| Podium finishes | 8 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Average finish | 5.71 |
| Average finish in last five races | 3.80 |
| Most recent finish | 7th |
| Points in most recent race | 52 |
| Standings position | 2nd |
| Points | 621 |
| Last Rank | 1st (-) |
| Races | 17 |
| Top 10 finishes | 15 |
| Top 5 finishes | 13 |
| Podium finishes | 9 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Average finish | 4.24 |
| Average finish in last five races | 3.60 |
| Most recent finish | 2nd |
| Points in most recent race | 80 |
| Standings position | 1st |
| Points | 678 |
Biggest Movers
Up: Marco Andretti (+4)
Down: Takuma Sato, Spencer Pigot (-3)
Non-formulated IndyCar Driver Power Rankings
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Engine | Last Rank | Trend |
| 1 | Scott Dixon | #9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Alexander Rossi | #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | #28, Andretti Autosport, Honda | 5 | +2 |
| 4 | Will Power | #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | Josef Newgarden | #1, Team Penske, Chevrolet | 3 | -2 |
| 6 | Simon Pagenaud | #22, Team Penske, Chevrolet | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | Robert Wickens | #6, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda | 7 | 0 |
| 8 | Sebastien Bourdais | #18, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | Marco Andretti | #98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda | 13 | +4 |
| 10 | James Hinchcliffe | #5, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda | 11 | +1 |
| 11 | Graham Rahal | #15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda | 10 | -1 |
| 12 | Ed Jones | #10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda | 14 | +2 |
| 13 | Takuma Sato | #30, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda | 9 | -4 |
| 14 | Spencer Pigot | #21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet | 12 | -2 |
| 15 | Tony Kanaan | #14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet | 17 | +2 |
| 16 | Zach Veach | #26, Andretti Autosport, Honda | 16 | 0 |
| 17 | Charlie Kimball | #23, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet | 15 | -2 |
| 18 | Matheus Leist | #4, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet | 18 | 0 |
| 19 | Gabby Chaves | #88, Harding Racing, Chevrolet | 19 | 0 |
| 20 | Max Chilton | #59, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet | 20 | 0 |
Biggest Movers
Up: Marco Andretti (+4)
Down: Takuma Sato (-4)
Formulated rankings predictions for after next race
Because of the fact that the IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma was the final race of the 2018 IndyCar season and the next race is scheduled to take place in the 2019 season, there are no formulated rankings predictions for the formulated IndyCar Driver Power Rankings after the next race in this edition of the power rankings.
Conclusion
To close out the exciting 2018 IndyCar season, champion Scott Dixon finished on top of both the formulated and non-formulated sets of IndyCar Driver Power Rankings. The five-time IndyCar champion ended the season having sat atop the formulated set of rankings after each of the season’s final 10 races.
More from IndyCar
- IndyCar: Two teams with no drivers confirmed for 2024
- IndyCar: Chip Ganassi Racing news hints Alex Palou announcement
- IndyCar: ‘Addition by subtraction’ could pay off in a big way
- Team Penske should make a bold driver signing for 2024
- IndyCar: 5 teams that still have open seats for 2024
The last race after which Dixon did not sit atop the formulated set of rankings was the first race of two races on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan back in early June. This race was the seventh race of the season, and it was the race during which he earned the first of his three victories in 2018.
Dixon’s victory total of three this season is tied for his highest victory total since he recorded four victories in the 2013 season, the season during which he secured his third career IndyCar championship. The other season since then during which he secured three victories was the 2015 season, the season during which he secured his fourth career championship.
The last season during which the 38-year-old Kiwi recorded three or more victories and did not win the championship was the 2010 season. He finished in third place in the championship standings that season after recording three victories.
Upon winning the 2018 championship, Dixon has now finished in the top three in the championship standings in 11 of the last 12 seasons. His lone non-top three finish in the standings since he finished in fourth place in the 2006 season is his sixth place finish in the 2016 season.
Be sure to enjoy the offseason before the 2019 IndyCar season gets underway. The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is set to open up the 2019 season from the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida on Sunday, March 10, 2019.