Newgarden wins title as Herta holds off Power in finale

Josef Newgarden has won the 2019 IndyCar Series by finishing eighth at Laguna Seca, while Colton Herta beat Will Power to victory in the season finale.

Herta had qualified on pole in the #88 Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda and led all the way but for his three pit stops.

Power started seventh and emerged fifth from the first pit stop cycle in his #12 Team Penske Chevrolet.

He found himself briefly second after taking his second stop but could not keep Scott Dixon at bay and let Simon Pagenaud, team-mate and a series contender, go as well.

Power got those spots back when he ran slightly longer before pitting for a final time, taking up the chase just behind Herta.

Stan Sport is the only way to watch every round of the INDYCAR SERIES. Click here for all the action streaming ad-free, live and on demand.

The Queenslander ultimately crossed the finish line 0.5878s back after 90 laps, which included one Caution that fell right at the halfway mark.

Dixon (#9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) had run in an effective second position until the final stint and got home in third position, barely a tenth ahead of Pagenaud (#22 Chevrolet), after managing to stave the Frenchman off.

It still was not enough for either to jump Newgarden in the standings, although Pagenaud took the runner-up position off Alexander Rossi by a single point.

That was because Newgarden grafted his way to eighth in the #2 Team Penske Chevrolet.

The 2017 champion tailed his nearest series rival, Rossi (#27 Andretti Autosport Honda) in an early battle for third but found himself sixth soon after the first stops as their tyre strategies diverged.

Rossi came back to Newgarden as his alternate tyres wore out and they pitted together on Lap 36, at which time the Andretti driver was released just ahead of the Penske steerer.

That left them down in seventh and eighth respectively, before each gained a position in the third pit stop cycle.

Rossi was not a worry as long as they remained in those positions, and the threat of Pagenaud eventually passed, meaning there was no harm done when Sebastien Bourdais (#18 DCR w/ Vasser-Sullivan Honda) got by Newgarden on Lap 85.

Fifth on the day went to Felix Rosenqvist (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda), from Rossi, Bourdais, and Newgarden.

The series top five ended up Newgarden from Pagenaud, Rossi, Dixon, and Power.

Next year’s season starts in St Petersburg on March 13-15.

Race results: Laguna Seca

Pos	Num	Driver	C/E/T	Race time/Split	Pit stops	Status	Grid pos
1	88	Colton Herta (R)	D/H/F	1:53:56.9845	3	Running	1
2	12	Will Power	D/C/F	+0.5878	3	Running	7
3	9	Scott Dixon	D/H/F	+6.2404	3	Running	2
4	22	Simon Pagenaud	D/C/F	+6.3545	3	Running	6
5	10	Felix Rosenqvist (R)	D/H/F	+9.5206	3	Running	14
6	27	Alexander Rossi	D/H/F	+10.3637	3	Running	3
7	18	Sebastien Bourdais	D/H/F	+10.6831	3	Running	19
8	2	Josef Newgarden	D/C/F	+19.0447	3	Running	4
9	5	James Hinchcliffe	D/H/F	+22.8186	3	Running	5
10	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	D/H/F	+24.7944	3	Running	9
11	7	Marcus Ericsson (R)	D/H/F	+25.7806	3	Running	11
12	15	Graham Rahal	D/H/F	+26.6517	3	Running	8
13	59	Max Chilton	D/C/F	+27.0743	3	Running	10
14	98	Marco Andretti	D/H/F	+54.4314	3	Running	22
15	23	Charlie Kimball	D/C/F	+56.5862	3	Running	20
16	14	Tony Kanaan	D/C/F	+1:05.8739	3	Running	21
17	4	Matheus Leist	D/C/F	+1:06.5640	3	Running	23
18	26	Zach Veach	D/H/F	+1:07.9267	3	Running	17
19	60	Jack Harvey	D/H/F	+1:10.7956	5	Running	24
20	21	Spencer Pigot	D/C/F	+1 lap	3	Running	15
21	30	Takuma Sato	D/H/F	+1 lap	5	Running	16
22	25	Conor Daly	D/H/F	+1 lap	4	Running	13
23	20	Ed Jones	D/C/F	+39 laps	4	Mechanical	18
24	19	Santino Ferrucci (R)	D/H/F	+42 laps	2	Contact	12

Race winner: 90 laps
(C)hassis: D=Dallara | (E)ngine: C=Chevy, H=Honda | (T)yre: F=Firestone

Series points

Pos	Driver	Pts
1	Josef Newgarden	641
2	Simon Pagenaud	616
3	Alexander Rossi	608
4	Scott Dixon	578
5	Will Power	550
6	Felix Rosenqvist	425
7	Colton Herta	420
8	Ryan Hunter-Reay	420
9	Takuma Sato	415
10	Graham Rahal	389
11	Sebastien Bourdais	387
12	James Hinchcliffe	370
13	Santino Ferrucci	351
14	Spencer Pigot	335
15	Tony Kanaan	304
16	Marco Andretti	303
17	Marcus Ericsson	290
18	Zach Veach	271
19	Matheus Leist	261
20	Ed Jones	217
21	Jack Harvey	186
22	Max Chilton	184
23	Ed Carpenter	161
24	Conor Daly	149
25	Charlie Kimball	117
26	Patricio O’Ward	115
27	Sage Karam	39
28	James Davison	36
29	Helio Castroneves	33
30	Ben Hanley	31
31	Pippa Mann	28
32	Kyle Kaiser	22
33	JR Hildebrand	20
34	Oriol Servia	16
35	RC Enerson	13
36	Jordan King	12