IndyCar Series: Herta wins finale, Newgarden takes his second title

Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) is the IndyCar Series champion for 2019! The 28-year-old driver from Hendersonville, Tennessee, takes his second IndyCar title, two years after he did that in 2017, after finishing eighth in the season’s finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Newgarden gave team owner Roger Penske his 16th series championship, including the fourth in the last six years.

The winner of the race was Colton Herta (Harding Steinbrenner Racing), who started from pole and converted in into his second win in his rookie season, after leading 83 of the 90 laps on the 11-turn, 2.258-mile permanent road course. However, he missed becoming the Rookie of the Year because Felix Rosenqvist (Chip Ganassi Racing) takes that honor with the fifth-place finish at Laguna Seca.

Josef Newgarden – 2019 IndyCar Series champion

Four drivers started the Grand Prix of Monterey as championship contenders but Newgarden had enough points on his account to control the double-points race, not insisting to have unnecessary risk. In the end, he won the championship title with 25 points (641:616) more than teammate Simon Pagenaud, who finished fourth at Laguna Seca.

Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport) finished sixth in the race and third in the championship while Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) reached the podium (third place) to end the season fourth in the points. Will Power (Team Penske) climbed to the second podium spot at Laguna Seca, ending the season in the fifth place.

Newgarden takes his second title in three years

“I guess that’s your role as a champion is to push that message and just to be a positive light for that. That’s really all I can do. I don’t know if I can move the ball further by doing anything else significant.

I mean, it’s going to take all of us pushing in this common direction to try and push the sport forward. You know, it’ll take me, it’ll take guys like Rossi and Simon and Will, and it will take all of us I think to keep pushing the sport forward, and that’s what we will plan on doing,” Newgarden said.