IndyCar: Josef Newgarden’s rally kept incredible streak intact

By Asher Fair | Nov 1, 2020

Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, IndyCar - Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /

The incredible rally of Josef Newgarden, while it came up just short, kept alive a massive IndyCar championship streak this season.

With just six races remaining in the 2020 IndyCar season, Chip Ganassi’s Racing Scott Dixon led the championship standings by 117 points (386 to 269) over Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden in second place.

The title fight appeared to be over.

With a maximum of 54 points (50 for winning, one for taking the pole position, one for leading at least one lap and two for leading the most laps) on the table in each race but the potential to make up only 49 points on each driver with finishes of 25th place or worse being worth five points, Newgarden was effectively three full races, and not just three races but three great races, behind.

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At this point, Dixon had the chance to potentially secure his sixth championship with four races remaining on the 14-race schedule.

But Newgarden, who had only beaten Dixon in two of the season’s first eight races, went on an incredible rally from that point forward.

In the season’s final six races, Newgarden secured three victories and outscored Dixon in every single event. Dixon entered both the antepenultimate and penultimate races of the season at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with a chance to secure the title, but he could not pull if off.

Dixon entered the season finale on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida with a 32-point lead (502 to 470).

Newgarden’s rally ultimately came up short, with him finishing just 16 points (537 to 521) behind the driver of the #9 Honda following a 101-point rally. But this comeback allowed the driver of the #1 Chevrolet to keep alive an impressive streak, one which truly separates IndyCar as the most competitive racing series in the world.

Having taken the championship fight to the season finale, Newgarden ensured that the 2020 season was the 15th consecutive season in which the title was not decided prior to the finale.

The last time a driver had secured a championship prior to the season finale was in 2005, when the late Dan Wheldon entered the season finale having already clinched.

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It is noteworthy that from 2014 to 2019, the six season finales contested were double points races. However, even without double points on the line, the season finales in each of these six seasons would have ultimately decided the champion — just like the season finales from 2006 to 2013 and then again in 2020.