A quick look at the five drivers racing for the Astor Challenge Cup as NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion in the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on Sunday, September 11 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Series leader Will Power is 20 points ahead of Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon. CGR’s Marcus Ericsson is fourth, 39 points behind, while Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin is fifth, 41 points behind.
TO SEE: Event preview | How title contenders got here
This is the 17th consecutive season in which the championship comes to the final race of the season, and it is the first time since 2003 that five drivers have competed for the Astor Challenge Cup in a season finale with no double points.
NBC’s live coverage begins at 2:40 p.m. ET, with the INDYCAR Radio Network on air live at 3 p.m.
WILL POWER (leader)
Team: Team Penske
Car: No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet
Age: 41
Residence: Toowoomba, Australia
Residence: Charlotte, North Carolina
2022 wins: 1 (Belle Island)
2022 Stages: 8
2022 Top 10: 12
2022 laps led: 318
2022 NTT P1 Awards: 4
2022 Average start: 8.1
2022 Average finish: 6.1
Previous Best Seasonal Finish: First (2014)
Career wins: 41
Career Poland: 67
INDYCAR SERIES Career Debut: 2005
JOSEF NEWGARDEN (Second, -20*)
Team: Team Penske
Car: No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet
Age: 31
Residence: Nashville, Tennessee
Residence: Nashville, Tennessee
2022 wins: 5 (Texas, Long Beach, Road America, Iowa-1, World Wide Technology Raceway)
2022 Stages: 5
2022 Top 10: 11
2022 laps led: 522
2022 NTT P1 Awards: 1
2022 Average start: 5.5
2022 Average finish: 8.6
Previous Best Seasonal Finish: First (2017, 2019)
Career wins: 25
Career Poland: 16
INDYCAR SERIES Career Debut: 2012
SCOTT DIXON (third, -20)
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Car: No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Age: 42
Residence: Auckland, New Zealand
Residence: Indianapolis
2022 wins: 2 (Toronto, Nashville)
2022 Stages: 4
2022 Top 10: 15
2022 laps led: 186
2022 NTT P1 Awards: 1
2022 Average start: 10.9
2022 Average finish: 6.4
Previous Best Seasonal Finish: First (2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2020)
Career wins: 53
Career Poland: 28
INDYCAR SERIES Career Debut: 2001
MARCUS ERICSSON (Fourth, -39)
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
Car: No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Age: 32
Residence: Kumla, Sweden
Residence: Indianapolis
2022 wins: 1 (Indianapolis 500)
2022 Stages: 3
2022 Top 10: 11
2022 laps led: 37
2022 NTT P1 Awards: 0 (Best start second, World Wide Technology Raceway)
2022 Average start: 11.8
2022 Average finish: 8.0
Previous Best Seasonal Finish: sixth (2021)
Career wins: 3
Career Poland: 0
INDYCAR SERIES Career Debut: 2019
SCOTT McLaughlin (fifth, -41)
Team: Team Penske
Car: No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet
Age: 29
Residence: Christchurch, New Zealand
Residence: Charlotte, North Carolina
2022 wins: 3 (St. Petersburg, Central Ohio, Portland)
2022 Stages: 7
2022 Top 10: 11
2022 laps led: 433
2022 NTT P1 Awards: 3
2022 Average start: 6.9
2022 Average finish: 8.9
Previous Best Seasonal Finish: 14th (2021)
Career wins: 3
Career Poland: 3
INDYCAR SERIES Career Debut: 2020
*- Newgarden holds tiebreak with more wins this season.
!function (f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
if (f.fbq) return; n = f.fbq = function () {
n.callMethod ?
n.callMethod.apply(n, arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments)
}; if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n;
n.push = n; n.loaded = !0; n.version = ‘2.0’; n.queue = []; t = b.createElement(e); t.async = !0;
t.src = v; s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s)
}(window,
document, ‘script’, ‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘339960496169543’);
fbq(‘track’, “PageView”);
