Simon Pagenaud clinches IndyCar title with dominating win at Sonoma

In a yearlong celebration of Roger Penske’s 50th year in racing, Simon Pagenaud brought yet another championship to trophy to one of the most storied organization in motorsports.

The Frenchman won his first career IndyCar title in his sophomore season driving for Penske, and did it in dominating fashion by winning the season finale Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.

Pagenaud only needed a smooth race to put a wrap on this breakthrough season.

Instead, he picked up his fifth win of the year and led a strong Penske finish to the final podium. The Penske team went 1-2-3 in the final series standings, the first team to do so since another Penske trio pulled off the sweep in 1994.

“That was a strong run and I take my hat off to the entire team,” said Penske.

A 14th IndyCar title — and 29th in various forms of motorsports — was guaranteed at the start of the race because only Pagenaud and teammate Will Power were mathematically eligible to win the title.

Pagenaud entered the weekend 43 points ahead of Power, but earned an additional point for winning the pole. Then he led the most laps and won a race that was worth double points in the standings.

“My whole career has been about this day, reaching this level,” Pagenaud said. “For an athlete, it’s what you work for.”

Pagenaud’s performance was a moot point, though: Power had mechanical issues 38 laps into the race that sealed the outcome.

Probably needing to win to unseat Pagenaud, Power instead finished 20th.

“It was pretty realistic considering it was (worth) double points,” Power said. “It’s just how it flows, when it’s your year, it’s your year, and Simon has done a phenomenal job to lead a 1-2-3 finish.”

Power finished second in the standings and Helio Castroneves was third.

It’s the fourth time Power has finished second in the standings, but it was easy to swallow because he won his only title in 2014. And, he missed the season opening race this year when IndyCar ruled him out with concussion-like symptoms — it was an inner ear infection — so climbing back into title contention was somewhat of a victory.

“If I hadn’t won a championship, I guess it would be a pretty bad day,” Power said. “But finishing second, considering how I started the year, getting four wins, it’s a good year.”

A year after losing the title in the final race — Juan Pablo Montoya led the standings wire-to-wire, but a Scott Dixon win in the finale cost Penske the championship on a tie-breaker — the Penske organization cruised to the top of the series. The combination of Pagenaud, Power and Montoya won 10 of the 16 races.

Across all motorsports, Penske this year also achieved its 500th pole, its 100th victory in NASCAR’s top Sprint Cup Series, and now an additional championship. The Penske team still has another shot: Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano both had top-five finishes Sunday in the opening race of NASCAR’s playoffs.