2015 IndyCar Series - battle for the title

[Adam43]

Are the bonus points doubled aswell? Or just the regular finishing points?

[NaBUru38]

I've read that bonus points are standard, not doubled.

[gert]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Not wanting to state the obvious but he has been incredibly consistent. His worst result was at Iowa, where he finished 24th.

Well, I hope he gets it. After all, he has led the championship since the very start (IIRC), so that would make him a deserving champion.

Not that Dixon or Rahal don't deserve it, I just think Montoya deserves it most.

Rahal has had a superb season, but luck has been on his side (*), so that would IMO always cast a shadow over an eventual title.

(*) luck as in: too many external factors that influenced a result: twice lucky with the FCY in Mid Ohio; no punishment for the fuel hose in Fontana, ...
Agreed, Montoya also got a lucky break with the first yellow in Ohio, but the second one negated that completely.

As for Power and Castroneves, they have been too inconsistent/made too many mistakes compared to Montoya/Dixon/Rahal.

[S griffin]

I think it would great for Montoya, to show he's still got it at 39 and justice for the dab hand he was given in F1. One of the true characters of the sport

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

I've read that bonus points are standard, not doubled.

Cheers.

I'm another rooting for Montoya.

[Paradise City]

Ideally, now that Montoya has the more important 500, it'd be cool if Rahal got the championship after a number of perilously poor years that Rahal has had to endure.

But Montoya basically has it won, more or less and that's fine too.

[bjohnsonsmith]

I'd like to see Montoya win it but at the same time a late charge win for Rahal, against the might of Penske-Chevrolet, is also appealing.

What if Will Power did it again? You never know.

[Lanky Turtle]

I'd be happy with any of those 3. Power is my favorite but he's pretty far back and this doesn't seem like his year.

[JHamilton]

Congrats to Dixon! ...I guess.

[rwintle]

I did NOT see that coming... but Dixon's done this before, picking it up towards the end of what didn't seem like it was going to be a championship season. Well done.

Gutted for Rahal though. What a bad race he had (and then getting rammed by Bourdais as an extra insult). Fourth is a great result for him and the RLL team, but I was really hoping he was going to win the championship.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

Ideally, now that Montoya has the more important 500, it'd be cool if Rahal got the championship after a number of perilously poor years that Rahal has had to endure.

But Montoya basically has it won, more or less and that's fine too.

I didn't even mention Dixon once.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Montoya's not happy about the double points.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/120560

The bottom of this Autosport page shows the points variations.

[Adam43]

You wouldn't be happy would you. F1 got away with it last year, Indycar didn't.

To be fair he does finish with:

Originally Posted by normal points system champion

We'll see if they [IndyCar] change it, but they like the excitement for the last race,

Is it fair? No, but we go into the last race of the year knowing it's a double‑points race.

Is it fair for a normal championship? No, it's not fair, but it's the rules they want to play with, and if you don't like the rules, don't race.

[Nikki Katz]

Didn't Montoya also win a double points race this year?

[NaBUru38]

There's a reason for that.

[Adam43]

Yes, Indy.

At least you can argue that it is more important than others. Although for a championship it is still daft to double the points for it especially as winning it is important in itself in terms of reward. Le Mans is double the points in the WEC, although the argument there is that it is a longer race than the normal races.

[NaBUru38]

Best results by driver:

Dixon: 1-1-1, 3, 4-4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Montoya: 1-1, 3-3-3, 4-4-4, 5, 6, 7.

Power: 1, 2-2, 4-4-4-4, 7-7.

Rahal: 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4, 5, 8.

Castroneves: 2-2-2, 3-3, 4, 6-6, 7.

Hunter-Reay: 1-1, 2, 5, 7-7, 8.

Newgarden: 1-1, 2-2, 5, 7, 8.

Kanaan: 2-2, 3, 4, 5-5, 6-6-6, 7.

Dixon won three times, but Montoya won Indy and had more / better top 5s. It was a close battle, no matter the scoring system.

Now, Rahal did have better results than Power. But his bad result at Sonoma made the difference.

Instead of doubling the full points scale, perhaps they should have a special points scale for the top 5-6 finishers only.

Anyway, a drivers that gets a 1st and a 25th gets the same points as a driver who gets a 2nd and a 15th, I think that's wrong. Plus the scale has too big numbers.

I think that the regular scale should be changed to 25-18-15-12-11-10...

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Nikki Katz

Didn't Montoya also win a double points race this year?

Like anything about the 500, the points system is different from the other races on the calendar. In 2014, the points system for qualifying was changed so that on Saturday, the first day of qualifying, 33 points is awarded to the fastest qualifier down to one point for 33rd. On the second day of qualifying, Sunday, nine points is awarded for Pole, down to one point for ninth in the ''Fast Nine'' Shootout.

Scroll to the bottom of the link and you'll see the new qualifying points system as from 2014.

These extra points are added to a driver's total before the Indy 500 itself, that's if he/she has managed to get them.

http://www.indycar.com/Fan-Info/INDY.../Points-System

[Paradise City]

The 500 needs a few weeks to complete. Alot of extra preparation is required for that, so an extra injection of points for that event is by no means without merit even leaving aside questions of prestige.

Double points for the last race is just a gimmick. However it's unfortunate Montoya isn't a little more gracious - although I can hardly blame him too much. A frustrating race on its own terms compounded multiple times by losing the championship he lead all year on a count back. I'd be fulminating and fuming too.

[JHamilton]

Double points is not sport to me, particularly at that track. This is where entertainment crosses the line.

[JacobP]

Who cares about the double points? Team Penske failed big time as a team. Will Power should have been given instructions that if Montoya is anywhere near him, then Power's championship campaign should be over because of how far behind Power is in points. Therefore, if Power's car is anywhere near Montoya, Will Power should have been focusing on driving more carefully, and his spotter too, instead of crashing into your teammate while being blissfully unaware what's around the car. This is not the first he wrecks other cars while apparently being unaware of the situation around him.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by JacobP

Who cares about the double points? Team Penske failed big time as a team. Will Power should have been given instructions that if Montoya is anywhere near him, then Power's championship campaign should be over because of how far behind Power is in points. Therefore, if Power's car is anywhere near Montoya, Will Power should have been focusing on driving more carefully, and his spotter too, instead of crashing into your teammate while being blissfully unaware what's around the car. This is not the first he wrecks other cars while apparently being unaware of the situation around him.

Well, if it weren't for double points, Montoya would have won the championship and we wouldn't be talking about this. Also, I don't think tying for the championship, even with the racing incident that you referred to, means Penske "failed big time as a team". All of Penske's drivers are on their own and Power was racing for a championship as well... because of double points.

[S griffin]

It's a shame it had to end like this, gutted for Monty. I only hope this controversy is avoided in future

[sollitt]

There's a funny thing about sport. Rules are determined and published before the season starts. They are the same for everybody. Everybody knows what they are and what they must do to win. It ain't ever over until the fat lady sings. There are no unworthy champions ... only bad losers.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by sollitt

There's a funny thing about sport. Rules are determined and published before the season starts. They are the same for everybody. Everybody knows what they are and what they must do to win. It ain't ever over until the fat lady sings. There are no unworthy champions ... only bad losers.

Dixon isn't an unworthy winner and every point he got was available to Montoya and every other competitor but Dixon won't quite get the credit he deserves because this double points 'debate' will always be chucked around by people. That's why this double points stuff is foolish, artificial and counter productive.

It'd make more sense if they put a double header on that weekend.