Just six months ago we were anticipating the 2018 IndyCar season opener in St.Petersburg with the all-new aero kits set to give the field a different challenge.
Little did we know that rookie Robert Wickens would take pole and dominate the race on his debut, only for a late clash with Alexander Rossi to deny him the deserved victory.
The stage was set for a rollercoaster of a season and that's exactly what we got…
Fast forward to mid-September and the series head to California’s Sonoma Raceway for the final time with veteran four-time champion Scott Dixon leading the way, 29 points clear of Rossi, as part of a quartet of drivers eager to inscribe their name on the Astor Cup for 2018.
Penske duo Will Power and reigning champion Josef Newgarden are both firm outsiders in the affair, 87 points behind Dixon, and will need to win, with their rivals not scoring, to be in with a shot of a respective second IndyCar crown.
Dixon has been the master of consistency in the Chip Ganassi #9 PNC Bank machine; having failed to top qualifying once his racecraft has been sublime, picking up three wins so far this season. Only finishing outside the top 10 twice – Long Beach and Iowa – and the runner-up spot at the Indianapolis 500 has been crucial to his title tilt.
Fortune has also played a part – witness his incredible escape in the first-lap pile-up at the most recent Portland round, from which he miraculously continued with next-to-no damage and wound up fifth.
Title number five would leave him second in the all-time rankings behind seven-time champion A. J. Foyt.
"The best [situation] would be going in with about a 106-point lead,” joked Dixon. “We'll go there, we'll try to have the fastest car we can prepare, qualify where we can, put our heads down.
"That's what we can do. Yes, it's a lot nicer, last couple years it's been five or six[cars battling for the title]. They'll class it as four, but they'll have to do a lot to win. Going to be a lot of cars, 26."
Now in his third full season of IndyCar competition Alexander Rossi is in a position to challenge for his first IndyCar title. Rossi was an outside contender 12 months ago but now heads to his home state just 29 points behind Dixon, with 104 on offer.
After a timid start to the series after coming from a very short stint in Formula 1 with the struggling Manor team, Rossi stunned at the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 by taking the win and eventually jumped from the Herta-affiliated entry to the main Andretti team.
Since then Rossi has grown into a gritty racer with an insatiable hunger to give everything on the track and never leave anything on the table, often putting his rivals’ noses out of joint in the process.
His displays in Long Beach and Pocono were utterly dominant and ruthless against the opposition, never showing mercy or relenting in any fashion to win at any cost. But we also saw the other side of Rossi in Gateway where an ill-timed caution period meant the majority of the field was split on fuel strategy to get to the end of the race. He displayed a mature fuel-saving drive to finish second, and was almost a homage as to how Dixon has always been capable of eking out fuel stints over the years.
How will Rossi tackle the title decider? “I mean, you don't change your approach," he added. "I mean, I'm going to win, I'm going to try to beat people, do exactly what we've been doing all year. That's our only responsibility. If we win, we've done our job right.
"If it doesn't happen, that doesn't really matter. We have to go into the weekend and do all we can do to maximise ourselves, our potential. We have had a car in contention to win a race probably 90 per cent of this year. There's no reason to change that now."
Outside of the title battle, Carlos Munoz will remain in the #6 Lucas Oil entry in place of Robert Wickens, as the Canadian continues with his recovery from a sickeningly long list of injuries in the wake of his Pocono accident.
Harding Racing will field two cars for the first time in 2018 and will put in Indy Lights champion Patricio O’Ward and runner-up Colton Herta into the #8 and #88 respectively.
Title Permutations
With 104 points on offer in the double-points season finale, the four drivers will have to navigate these tasks to put their name on the championship trophy and we'll try and put them as simply as possible.
Scott Dixon – Finish in top two or top three with one or more of the bonus points available.
Alexander Rossi – Win the race without Dixon in the top three or finish anywhere in the top 10 should Dixon retire.
to keep a hold of his crown.
Will Power and Josef Newgarden are both level on 87 points behind Dixon and require Dixon, Rossi to be out of the race with one of the other also failing to finish to clinch the crown.
We're set for a finale to remember as Sonoma bids farewell to the IndyCar series; could we be set for a shock result or will Scott Dixon march on to a fifth series title?
