Will Power may not win at Portland, much to the astonishment of Scott Dixon – Which scenario makes the Penske driver the IndyCar champion
There is one race remaining in the 2022 IndyCar season: This week’s finale at Laguna Seca. Will Power travels to California as the championship leader with a 20-point lead after finishing second to Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin in Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland.
But the gap to the two overall runners-up Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon could have been even greater. For Power admits to “asking for [team instructions] over the radio” in Portland. But the Penske command did not do the 2014 IndyCar champion the favour and waived a stable direction.
For Power, a swap of positions with McLaughlin and an associated second win of the season would have meant ten more points. The fact that it didn’t come to that is also causing astonishment among the competition. “I said it with ten laps to go, ‘I’m surprised they haven’t switched yet,'” Dixon explained.
“In situations like today with McLaughlin and Power, I would have thought that was an open and shut case,” the six-time champion continued. The Ganassi driver himself once again fought his way unobtrusively but effectively through the IndyCar field in Portland and was rewarded with P3. Dixon insists that everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing is pulling together.
Scott Dixon: Would have thought this was an open-and-shut case
“We always work as a team to do the best we can, and if we can help [one of] our teammates, we definitely will,” said the New Zealander. And McLaughlin, whose Portland win also keeps him in the title race? “I didn’t know [Will] asked for team orders,” he says.
“But I can’t control that. I just drove my race and I’m a team player. I will do whatever I have to do.” Part of the truth, though, is that McLaughlin has been extremely dominant in Portland. Of 110 laps, the Penske driver from New Zealand led their 104.
This is what McLaughlin refers to when he says: “Everybody knew that [in the event of a stall rule] I would be the real winner.” And teammate Power also shows understanding for McLaughlin’s situation: “I understand the situation Scott is in. I’ve been through it too, and you don’t want to give up a win. “
Will Power and four opponents can still be champions
So Power leads the overall standings ahead of the final race at Laguna Seca with 523 points, while Newgarden and Dixon have 503. In addition, McLaughlin (482) and Dixon’s Ganassi team-mate Marcus Ericsson (484) also still have theoretical chances of winning the 2022 IndyCar championship.
Including all the bonus points (one for pole, one for a lap in the lead, two for the most laps in the lead), there is still a maximum of 54 points to be awarded. Points for the top 10 are distributed according to the key 50-40-35-32-30-28-26-24-22-20. So third place in Laguna Seca (without extra points) is enough for Power to celebrate his second title.
Dixon, Newgarden, Ericsson and McLaughlin, on the other hand, will have to go for the win no matter what. The first two need as many bonus points as possible in addition to a win, otherwise in an extreme case P6 including all the extra points would also be enough for Power.
Ericsson and McLaughlin need a miracle
The task of winning the title is even more difficult for the outsiders Ericsson and McLaughlin. Even if one of them takes the full number of points including bonus points, 14th place will be enough for Power to finish ahead of both drivers in the final standings. Compared to McLaughlin, a 16th place would even be enough for Power.
Besides a Power slip-up, Ericsson has to hope that Newgarden misses the podium and does not score any bonus points. And to stay ahead of Ganassi colleague Dixon, the New Zealander must finish third at the most without extra points. McLaughlin is even dependent on both Newgarden and Dixon missing the podium and remaining without bonus points.
Given this starting position, it’s not surprising when Power says, looking ahead to the finale, “Ten points [more] would be great. We would go into the race pretty confident that we can do it. At 20 [points ahead], it’s still a big fight.” Often enough Power has still lost out in such a case …