IndyCar: Dan Wheldon's historic mark remains intact

Dan Wheldon is the most recent driver to have secured an IndyCar championship before the season finale. That streak has officially extended into 2020.

When the late Dan Wheldon secured his lone IndyCar championship back in 2005, he did it without having to worry about the losing his lead in the standings in the season finale.

To this day, no additional drivers have been able to make that claim.

And that won’t change this year.

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With his fourth place finish at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on Saturday afternoon, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden ensured that the 2020 championship will come down to the season finale on the streets of St. Petersburg on Sunday, October 25.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, who has led the standings after each of the season’s first 13 races, leads Newgarden by 32 points heading into the season finale following his eighth place finish on Saturday.

There are a maximum of 54 points on the table for each driver in each race, with 50 going to the winner, one going to all drivers who lead at least one lap (so 51+ guaranteed for the winner), one going to the race polesitter and two for the driver who leads the most laps.

A 32-point gap is by no means a small margin, but it is by no means insurmountable.

Just once this season has Newgarden made up 32 points on Dixon in a single race, and he made up exactly 32 points in that race when he won at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on Saturday to score 54 points while Dixon finished in ninth place to score 22.

Dixon has already clinched the tiebreaker, however, so Newgarden will need to outscore him by 33 points or more to secure the title.

He hasn’t done that in any individual race this year.

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

The 2020 season finale, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, is set to be broadcast live from the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida on NBC beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 25.

IndyCar: Dan Wheldon’s historic mark remains intact

By Asher Fair | Oct 4, 2020

Dan Wheldon is the most recent driver to have secured an IndyCar championship before the season finale. That streak has officially extended into 2020.