Beyond the Flag
Fansided

IndyCar: Will Power’s 2019 road/street championship-clinching scenarios

By Asher Fair

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MAY 24: Will Power of Australia, driver of the #12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MAY 24: Will Power of Australia, driver of the #12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

How can Will Power win the 2019 IndyCar road and street course championship in Sunday’s season finale, the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca?

IndyCar individual discipline champions, one for the road and street course races and one for the oval races, still exist unofficially despite the fact that the Mario Andretti Road Course Trophy and the A.J. Foyt Oval Trophy are no longer awarded.

This year’s road and street course champion is set to be determined in the 2019 season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey.

Between 12 and 104 points are on the table for each driver in this 90-lap race around the 11-turn, 2.238-mile (3.602-kilometer) WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca natural terrain road course in Monterey, California because it is a double points-paying race (aside of bonus points) and 24 drivers are set to compete in it.

As a result, there are six drivers who are still eligible to win the 2019 road and street course championship, and one of them is five-time road and street course champion Will Power of Team Penske.

Here is how these six drivers stack up against one another in the road and street course championship standings.

Rank – Driver, Car, Team, Engine: Points (Behind)
1st – Scott Dixon, #9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda: 375 (0)
2nd – Alexander Rossi, #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda: 372 (-3)
3rd – Josef Newgarden, #2, Team Penske, Chevrolet: 363 (-12)
4th – Simon Pagenaud, #22, Team Penske, Chevrolet: 309 (-66)
5th – Will Power, #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet: 306 (-69)
6th – Felix Rosenqvist, #10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda: 292 (-83)

Should tiebreakers be needed, the first tiebreaker would be road and street course race victories, of which Dixon, Rossi and Newgarden have two, Pagenaud and Power have one and Rosenqvist has none. The second tiebreaker is second place finishes, the third tiebreaker is third place finishes, the fourth tiebreaker is fourth place finishes and so on.

Here is how Power can become the 2019 IndyCar road and street course champion.

NOTE: Bonus points (aside of the guaranteed +1 for the race winner) are not factored into this list. 

Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet

More from IndyCar

With a win…

  • Power will have 407 points
  • Scott Dixon must finish in 15th place (405 points) or lower
  • Alexander Rossi must finish in 13th place (406 points) or lower
  • Josef Newgarden must finish in 10th place (403 points) or lower

With a 2nd place finish or lower…

  • Power cannot win the road and street course championship

Next. Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time. dark

Will Will Power, who was formerly known as the king of the IndyCar road and street course races, win his sixth road and street course championship and his first since the 2015 season in the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca? NBC is set to broadcast this race, which is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 22, live beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.