When Scott McLaughlin crossed the line first in Portland on Sunday, he took home the most the maximum possible points and ensured that he was not eliminated from title contention.
By doing that, however, he also ensured that his team-mate Will Power was not able to get those crucial points for himself.
With Power coming into the race with a narrow points lead, and a more realistic chance at winning the championship, he would have benefitted more from the 10 extra points that winning the race brings.
Team orders are sometimes employed in situations such as that, to give every advantage to the driver that has most to gain as the season nears its conclusion. They were not in this instance, even though Power asked on the radio to be let by.
“Absolutely,” confirmed Power after the race. “I was on the radio asking for it. Yeah, 10 or 11 points would be great.
“I get it from the standpoint that Scott [McLaughlin] is in. I’ve been there, and you don’t want to give up a win. Obviously, 10 points, 11 points would make a big difference [for me]. You wouldn’t be having to finish third. You would have been having to finish eighth or something.
“I think we go into [Laguna] pretty confident that we could get it done. 20 [point margin], it’s still a big fight.”
There are two drivers sitting 20 points behind Power heading into the final race, and he will have to be very careful to not let them steal the title away.
Both Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden have a deep bag of tricks, and they will certainly use every tool they have to attempt to earn the Astor Cup for themselves.
