Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, Scott Dixon, and Marcus Ericsson all came into the final race with a chance to take home the Astor Challenge Cup and the championship. That’s the most drivers since 2003 to be in contention for the championship in a regular-points season finale.
The competition was close all season, as the lead in the standings changed seven times, with nine different drivers winning at least one race. That’s two less than the all-time IndyCar Series record of 11. Newgarden led all drivers with five wins during the 2022 campaign.
Nine different drivers also won poles throughout the season, the most since 1961. Power extended his IndyCar Series record streak to 14 consecutive seasons with at least one start from the pole position.
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Power Takes 2nd Championship
After winning the pole in the final event at Laguna Seca, Power would finish the race third to ascend to the IndyCar Championship for the second time in his career. His victory is the 17th for owner Roger Penske in open-wheel racing and the fifth since 2014 when Power won his first championship after losing titles at the end of the season from 2010 through 2012.
Penske’s teams have won 43 national championships in major professional auto racing since 1966, including this year’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship with Joey Logano behind the wheel.
Adding to his other all-time IndyCar records, Power is the third active driver with multiple championships, joining Scott Dixon and teammate Josef Newgarden. He will go down as one of the all-time greats of any era with 41 victories, 68 poles, two Series Championships, and an Indy 500 victory to cap it all off. This was one of the closest championships in history, with Power proving to be the most consistent driver down the stretch.
2022: One of the Most Competitive Seasons
Statistics from the 2022 NTT IndyCar season indicate that it was one of the most competitive in history, making an eventful year for online sports betting. Passes for position increased by 40% from 2021, with 5,881 in 2022, which was the most since 2015. Since passes per race were first kept as a stat in 2006, there were record highs at five different venues, including Indianapolis and Laguna Seca.
Equipment was also more reliable, with 98,145 laps turned in 2022, the most since 2011, and drivers navigated more miles this season than they have since 2013. Power and Dixon were the only drivers to complete all 2,268 laps this season.
The battle for Rookie of the Year was also one of the closest in recent memory, with Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas entering the season’s final race with just five points separating them. Lundgaard would finish fifth in the event to win the title.
The 41 points that separated the five drivers in contention for the championship at the 2022 finale at Laguna Seca was the closest in the final race in 19 years when 30 points separated them.
The year 2022 also saw the closest finish in a street circuit event in IndyCar Series history, as Scott Dixon won the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville by 1067 seconds over Scott McLaughlin. The win was also Dixon’s 53rd career victory, breaking a tie with Mario Andretti for second all-time in IndyCar Series wins. The legendary A.J. Foyt has the most wins in the history of the Series with 67.
