Yahoo Autos Will Power Sticks to the Script to Win Second NTT IndyCar Series Championship
Team Penske's Will Power needed to finish at least third in Sunday's race to close out the competition, and he did exactly that.
The win and second career championship for Power came one day after he broke Mario Andretti's all-time record for Indy car poles with No. 68.
Defending series champion Alex Palou, winless until Sunday, took the checkered flag at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Like a great Hollywood action hero, Will Power stuck to the script and wound up starring in another hit.
Power needed to finish third in Sunday’s season-ending Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to win his second career NTT IndyCar Series championship—and did just that.
Power knew what he had to do. There was no deviating from the script, no ad libbing and no improvising. He just did what he was told and what was expected of him—and the rest would take care of itself.
“There wasn’t a team that could touch us this year,” Power said after hoisting the Astor Trophy in the air, signifying that he earned the championship. “Man, you don’t get years like this very often. I’m going to let this soak in.”
Power won just once during the 17-race season, but consistency was his calling card, earning nine podium finishes and five poles.
It was part of a new kind of Power, so to speak, controlling only what he could all season, rather than what has previously been his philosophy for the last 15-plus years of being an over-achiever, sometimes leading to poor finishes as a result of mistakes due to trying to do too much or going for one spot too much before misfortune befell him.
“From the beginning, it was just playing the long game, not necessarily going for the big wins and all that,” Power said of his new philosophy for 2022.
When he crossed the finish line and was told he officially is the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series champion, Power expressed his gratitude to his crew over the team radio.
“Oh, man, it sounds surreal, honestly, it sounds surreal,” Power said. “I can’t thank you guys enough. It was absolutely a team effort this year. You guys were absolutely flawless all year. I owe it to you. I drove my heart out today. Congratulations and thank you, guys.”
In victory lane, an emotional Power—near tears—embraced his wife Liz.
“In the offseason, my wife said to me, ‘I believe you’re going to beat Mario’s record (Mario Andretti’s career record of 67 poles) and you’re going to win the championship,’” said Power, who earned his 68th pole on Saturday and followed that up with the title on Sunday. “She said that to me and actually gave me confidence I could do it, the fact she said that.
“That’s how much confidence I had in her gut feel. She said those words and I just couldn’t believe they came true.”
The 41-year-old Power earned his second career championship, adding to his first title in 2014.
“I just knew I had to absolutely get the most out of my stint and not lose any more positions,” Power said after he was passed by teammate Josef Newgarden for second place. “I had to drive the thing today. It was on the edge, very loose. Oh man, what a relief to get that done.”
Newgarden Amazes in Finale
Much was made in last week’s race at Portland when Scott Dixon climbed from a 16th place starting position to finish third. But that’s nothing compared to what Josef Newgarden did in Sunday’s season finale.
Bouncing back from a crash Saturday, Newgarden had the best run of any driver in the field – and best comeback of any driver in any race all season – during Sunday’s race: he started second-to-last in 25th place and finished runner-up.
Unfortunately for Newgarden, he didn’t earn enough points to overtake Power for the title, finishing second overall on the season, 16 points behind his teammate. Had misfortune befallen Power, Newgarden – who earned a career-best and season-high five wins – would likely have earned his third championship in the last six seasons.
“I hate to say it but in a lot of ways, this has been a really tough year, so it’s going to be a welcome off-season,” Newgarden said. “Mentally, it’s been a taxing season. We’ve had a lot of highs but we’ve had a lot of lows.
“Just riding the roller coaster this year brought me to a breaking point at a couple points in the year, but ultimately, I’m proud of the team. This is a big day for everybody to win the championship. Huge congrats to Will and the entire team. This is an effort by everybody. The ultimate goal is to win a championship for Team Penske, so there’s a ton to be proud of.”
Scott Dixon Comes Up Short in Pursuit of A.J. Foyt
The biggest surprise – make that disappointment – during Sunday was Scott Dixon, who was attempting to tie A.J. Foyt’s record of seven IndyCar championships.
Unfortunately for his fans and those of Chip Ganassi Racing, Dixon was a virtual non-entity throughout the 95-lap season finale, never able to really get out of mid-pack, ultimately finishing a disappointing 12th place in the race.
If there is some consolation, Dixon finished the overall season in third place, 39 points behind Power. It was the 14th time in his career that he’s finished in the top three in season stats.
“We ultimately just didn’t have the pace,” a somber Dixon said. “It was a strange race in we tried everything we could. … It’s just frustrating we couldn’t bring what we needed to today. Yeah, you win some and you lose some, man. This team never gave up. We pushed as hard as we could all year, and unfortunately we ended up third.”
Dixon, who turned 42 in July, is still bound and determined to tie Foyt’s record, even if it means he now has to push that goal back to 2023 or even 2024.
“(No. 7) is all that matters, man, as well as (winning) the Indy 500,” Dixon said. “We’ll be pushing the next year and maybe if not next year (2023), then the next year (2024). We’ll keep pushing as hard as possible.”
Too Little, Too Late for Palou
Last year’s series champion, Alex Palou, finally earned his first win of the season in what potentially could be his final race for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Palou, who became the ninth different winner this season, looked like the championship driver of last season, absolutely dominating the event by leading the most laps and winning by an amazing gap of 30.3812 seconds over runner-up Josef Newgarden.
Palou is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with team owner Chip Ganassi, who invoked the option year of Palou’s contract for 2023.
“We struggled a bit in some races, especially the last couple races and today was just awesome,” Palou said. “It was an awesome job by all the team. It’s good to finish the season with a win. It was just an awesome day. I don’t know what happened but everything clicked today.”
Palou was then asked the magic question: will he return to CGR next year?
“Things are evolving good,” a smiling Palou said, with Ganassi looking on about 10 feet away. “We’ll see what we can tell. We’ll enjoy the moment and see what happens.”
Rumors persist that Palou or McLaren may be able to buy out the final year of his deal with CGR, but at a hefty price tag reported to be $10 million.
In Sunday’s season finale, Palou finished first. He was mathematically eliminated from the championship before last week’s race at Portland, but he still wound up finishing fourth in the overall season standings.
But Wait, There's More
Colton Herta won the previous two races at Laguna Seca, but that wasn’t the case Sunday, as he struggled to an 11th-place finish. … It was a disappointing finish to the season for Callum Ilott, whose engine expired just 37 laps into the race, ending his day. … Christian Lundgaard finished fifth to not only top-finishing rookie, but also clinched the season’s Rookie of the Year honors over David Malukas (finished 13th in the race). … Simona De Silvestro qualified last (26th) in the field and finished 22nd. This was her fourth race of the season for Paretta Autosport. She and the team hope to increase the number of events they participate in together next season. It was also revealed that the 34-year-old De Silvestro has begun training for the 2026 Winter Olympics in the bobsled competition.
Follow Autoweek contributor Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski
Results
Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey
Results Sunday of the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey NTT IndyCar Series event on the 2.238-mile WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
(11) Alex Palou, Honda, 95, Running
(25) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 95, Running
(1) Will Power, Chevrolet, 95, Running
(8) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 95, Running
(16) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 95, Running
(7) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 95, Running
(4) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 95, Running
(5) Pato O'Ward, Chevrolet, 95, Running
(9) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 95, Running
(3) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 95, Running
(18) Colton Herta, Honda, 95, Running
(13) Scott Dixon, Honda, 95, Running
(6) David Malukas, Honda, 94, Running
(14) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 94, Running
(20) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 94, Running
(23) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 94, Running
(10) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 94, Running
(19) Graham Rahal, Honda, 94, Running
(12) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 94, Running
(21) Jack Harvey, Honda, 94, Running
(17) Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 94, Running
(26) Simona De Silvestro, Chevrolet, 94, Running
(22) Takuma Sato, Honda, 94, Running
(15) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 93, Running
(24) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 93, Running
(2) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 37, Mechanical
Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 103.277 mph
Time of Race: 2:03:31.0628
Margin of victory: 30.3812 seconds
Cautions: 1 for 3 laps
Lead changes: 7 among 5 drivers
Lap Leaders:
Power, Will 1 - 14
Ilott, Callum 15
Palou, Alex 16 - 18
Rosenqvist, Felix 19 - 23
Power, Will 24 - 26
Palou, Alex 27 - 67
Newgarden, Josef 68 - 72
Palou, Alex 73 - 95
Final Point Standings
Power 560, Newgarden 544, Dixon 521, McLaughlin 510, Palou 510, Ericsson 506, O'Ward 480, Rosenqvist 393, Rossi 381, Herta 381, Rahal 345, VeeKay 331, Grosjean 328, Lundgaard 323, Pagenaud 314, Malukas 305, Daly 267, Castroneves 263, Sato 258, Ilott 219, Johnson 214, Harvey 209, DeFrancesco 206, Kirkwood 183, Kellett 133, Tony Kanaan 78, Ed Carpenter 75, Santino Ferrucci 71, Tatiana Calderon 58, JR Hildebrand 53, Juan Pablo Montoya 44, De Silvestro 34, Marco Andretti 17, Sage Karam 14, Stefan Wilson 10
