Who can still win the IndyCar title for 2018?
Will it be Alexander Rossi, Scott Dixon or someone else as 2018 champion? |
Scott Dixon leads the Verizon IndyCar Series championship with four races to go for the third time in his career. He also led the championship with four to go when he won the title in 2008 and again in 2009. Dixon has led the championship since his win at Texas on June 9.
Dixon leads Alexander Rossi by 46 points with defending series championship Josef Newgarden (-60) in third and Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power (-87) in fourth.
There are 14 drivers still mathematically eligible for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series championship: Scott Dixon, Alexander Rossi, Josef Newgarden, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power, Robert Wickens, Simon Pagenaud, Graham Rahal, James Hinchcliffe, Sebastien Bourdais, Marco Andretti, Takuma Sato, Ed Jones and Spencer Pigot. Any driver who trails the points leader by 213 points or more following the race will be eliminated from contention.
Since the first Indy car race at Pocono in 1971, the winning driver at Pocono has won the Indy car championship six times: Joe Leonard (1972), A.J. Foyt (1975 and 1979), Tom Sneva (1977), Rick Mears (1982) and Scott Dixon (2013).
Key championship point statistic: The driver that has led the championship with four races to go has won the championship five times since 2008. Scott Dixon (2008), Dario Franchitti (2011), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2012), Simon Pagenaud (2016) and Josef Newgarden (2017) all won titles after holding the lead with four to go.
Point differential: The 46 points which separate Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi is the fifth-largest margin since 2008. Dario Franchitti (2010) and Dixon (2015) overcame leads of more than 50 points with four races to go. The average deficit with four races to go since 2008 is 35.7 points.
Championship-eligible drivers results at Pocono: Will Power (2016 and 2017), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2015) and Scott Dixon (2013) have won at Pocono…Josef Newgarden and Power have finished in the top five in four of their five starts at Pocono…Dixon, Newgarden and Power have finished in the top 10 in all five of their starts.
CHAMPIONSHIP WITH 4 TO GO
YEAR |
LEADER |
SECOND |
LEAD |
CHAMPION |
2008 |
Scott Dixon |
Helio Castroneves |
65 |
Scott Dixon |
2009 |
Scott Dixon |
Ryan Briscoe |
3 |
Dario Franchitti |
2010 |
Will Power |
Dario Franchitti |
59 |
Dario Franchitti |
2011 |
Dario Franchitti |
Will Power |
26 |
Dario Franchitti |
2012 |
Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Helio Castroneves |
23 |
Ryan Hunter-Reay |
2013 |
Helio Castroneves |
Scott Dixon |
39 |
Scott Dixon |
2014 |
Helio Castroneves |
Will Power |
13 |
Will Power |
2015 |
Juan Pablo Montoya |
Scott Dixon |
54 |
Scott Dixon |
2016 |
Simon Pagenaud |
Will Power |
58 |
Simon Pagenaud |
2017 |
Josef Newgarden |
Helio Castroneves |
7 |
Josef Newgarden |
2018 |
Scott Dixon |
Alexander Rossi |
46 |
???? |