Team Penske's Josef Newgarden has been crowned the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series Champion despite finishing in eighth place as his rivals failed to overturn the required deficit in the final race of the season.
Colton Herta also claimed his second NTT IndyCar Series win in the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey with a dominant drive at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Herta led the majority of the 90-lap race for Harding Steinbrenner Racing and rarely came under threat from those behind him, the 19-year-old was able to look after his tyres well on a circuit which is notoriously known for causing high-degradation.
Despite the victory, Herta was unable to secure the Rookie Of The Year award, eventually losing out by just five points due to Chip Ganassi's Felix Rosenqvist, thanks to his rapid progress through the field to fifth place from 14th on the grid.
Penske's Will Power pushed his way up the order over the course of the race and relentlessly hounded Herta in the latter stages of the race, however, it wasn't enough to snatch a third victory of the season from the hotshot rookie.
Chip Ganassi's Scott Dixon went into the race with the smallest of margins of winning a sixth series title, but despite his minuscule chances he pushed Herta in the early part of the race to try and take the lead but it wasn't good enough.
In the final laps of the race, the Kiwi was forced to try and fend off Simon Pagenaud for the final spot on the podium.
The Indy 500 winner looked the fastest of the title contenders throughout the race but no matter how close he got, Dixon had an answer for everything the Frenchman could throw at him to keep him in fourth place at the finish and second in the standings to Newgarden.
Rosenqvist picked off his rivals at will as he made his way through the field to eventually finish in fifth place, claiming the Rookie of the Year honour in the process.
Andretti Autosport's Alexander Rossi would eventually finish in sixth place, the California-native got punchy on the opening lap of the race, however, he couldn't match the pace of the leaders of the course of the race.
Sebastien Bourdais finished in a solid seventh place for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan despite suffering from a sore neck.
Newgarden – the newly crowned double series champion – could only muster eighth place at the end of the race, the #2 Hitachi car suffered with rear stability and had to manage the race carefully to ensure the championship would still be his.
James Hinchcliffe had started in fifth place for Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, he was able to run with the leaders early on but fell away as the laps ticked away.
The Canadian crossed the line in ninth place ahead of Ryan Hunter-Reay who would round out the top 10.
There was only one caution period in the race which came out for the stranded #25 USAF-Honda of Conor Daly who in Turn 1 collided with team-mate Marco Andretti whilst trying to pass him.
Santino Ferrucci was the sole retiree of the race after locking on the restart and crashed into the side of Takuma Sato which broke the rookie's suspension.
Racing action for the NTT IndyCar Series will return in 2020 in St.Petersburg, Florida on March 13-15.
Discussion about this post