IndyCar: Will Team Penske bounce back in the 2019 season?

Team Penske did not have a single legitimate championship contender heading into the 2018 IndyCar season finale. Will the team bounce back in the 2019 season?

Team Penske led all IndyCar teams in victories with six throughout the course of the 17-race 2018 season. However, entering the season finale at Sonoma Raceway, none of their three drivers had a legitimate chance to win the championship.

Because of the fact that the season finale was a double points-paying race, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden and Will Power were still mathematically eligible to win the championship heading into it.

These two drivers entered the season finale in a third place tie in the championship standings, as they each entered it with 511 points. They both trailed Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, who led the standings with 598 points, by 87 points.

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Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi sat in second place in the championship standings with 569 points heading into the season finale, as he trailed Dixon by 29.

To win the championship, Newgarden and Power needed to win the race with Dixon finishing in 24th place or lower and Rossi finishing in 10th or lower (not factoring in bonus points).

In other words, the championship battle was between Dixon and Rossi while Newgarden and Power were effectively competing for pride and experience.

This meant that there were no Team Penske drivers in legitimate championship contention in an IndyCar season finale for the first time since the 2007 season finale at Chicagoland Speedway.

Team Penske’s Sam Hornish Jr. entered this race trailing points leader Dario Franchitti of Andretti Green Racing by 160 points in the championship standings (587 to 427). Hornish Jr. was the higher of Team Penske’s two drivers, the other being Helio Castroneves, in the standings at this point, and he had no chance to win the 2007 championship in the season finale.

Power finished in third place in the championship standings in the 2018 season while Newgarden finished in fifth and the teammate of these two drivers, Simon Pagenaud, finished in sixth, making Team Penske the only team to have three drivers finish in the top six in the standings.

But while these results are impressive and Team Penske led all IndyCar teams with six victories in the 2018 season as well as the fact that they were arguably the sport’s top overall team, the season still turned out to be a huge disappointment for them as far as the championship was concerned.

Will they bounce back — relatively speaking, of course — in the 2019 season?

There is no reason to believe they won’t. Power and Newgarden tied for the series lead with three victories each in the 2018 season, and Power’s season was arguably his best since he won the 2014 championship. He won the Indianapolis 500 for the first time in his career and finished as the highest Team Penske driver in the championship standings for the first time since he won the 2014 championship.

After Power finished as the lowest of Team Penske’s four drivers in the championship standings in the 2017 season, a season during which he was extremely inconsistent, many people doubted whether or not he still had what it takes to compete for wins and championships. He proved these doubters wrong and clearly still has everything it takes to do so.

For Newgarden, the fact that a fifth place finish in the championship standings and a series-high three victories came as a result of a “down” season speaks for itself. He still clearly has what it takes to compete for wins and championships, and not much more needs to be said about it.

As far as Pagenaud is concerned, his 2018 season was a disappointing season. He failed to win a race for the first time since the 2015 season after winning the 2016 championship with a career-high five victories and finishing in second place in the 2017 championship standings with two victories. He finished in sixth in the 2018 standings.

Pagenaud recorded four top five finishes in the 2018 season after opening up both the 2016 season and the 2017 season with five top five finishes in the first five races. He is poised to bounce back in the 2019 season, and given the fact that he would be “bouncing back” from a sixth place finish in the championship standings that is still extremely solid, he, like Power and Newgarden, should be in a position to contend for the 2019 championship.

Team Penske should have at least one if not two or all three of their drivers in contention to win the 2019 championship heading into the season finale. It would be incredibly surprising for them to go two consecutive seasons without any one of their three drivers being legitimate championship contenders heading into the season finale, especially given the fact that these two seasons would follow the 2017 season that resulted in all four of their drivers finishing in the top five in the championship standings.

Will Team Penske bounce back in the 2019 IndyCar season and have at least one of their three drivers contending for the championship in the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday, September 22? Be sure not to miss this race or any of the 16 races prior to it on the 2019 schedule. The season is scheduled to begin with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida on Sunday, March 10.