It all comes down to this. 16 races down, 1 race remains, Laguna Seca. There are 5 drivers that can leave that race as the 2022 IndyCar series champion, all have had seasons to be proud of. How did these guys get to this point? Let's dive into it,

Scott McLaughlin

The New Zealander enters the season finale last of the title contenders 41 points out of the lead. He has been racing for a long time. In his previous racing life, he was an Australian Supercars champion. Very successful in Australia and New Zealand winning 56 races, 106 podiums total, 76 poles, and 3 titles. In his last 4 seasons, he was 1st or 2nd, and those were spent with Penske. In 2021, McLaughlin came to IndyCar for Penske, and he claimed his first podium at Texas. Pretty good, first race on an oval, and in his 4th career IndyCar start. But naturally, it was going to be a steep learning curb for McLaughlin to learn how to race in open wheel cars. He only got one other top 5 result for the rest of the season and finished 14th in the standings. Scott even admitted that he was starting to ask himself why he was at IndyCar. For a driver that is so used to winning some doubts got into hus head, wondering if he made the right career choice. That would make the season opener at St Pete this year that much more special. McLaughlin claimed his his 1st win from his first pole. He could have won Texas but got outraced by teammate Josef Newgarden on the last corner of the last lap, so McLaughlin had to settle for 2nd. In the next 5 races, he had 4 finishes of 14th or worse. However, since Road America, he only has finished outside the top 10 once. Including 2 wins at Mid Ohio and Portland, McLaren has been on a hot streak to end the season with 5 straight top 5 finishes, and now he has a shot. While it is a longshot and he has the biggest hill to climb to win the championship, his improvement from his rookie campaign to this year has earned him a multi-year deal at Team Penske. In Supercars, he usually raced only people from New Zealand and Australia, but he wanted to come to IndyCar to compete with in his eyes the best drivers in the world. Should McLaughlin defy the longshot odds, he'll prove to himself how great of a talent he is, and dare I say being an IndyCar champion will be the top of the list on racing accomplishments for Scott McLaughlin.

Marcus Ericsson

39 points off is the driver of the 8 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing Marcus Ericsson. That name may be familiar to those who watched F1. He raced for Caterham and Sauber from 2014-2018. In that time, things just didn't come together, so a lot of people wrote him off like a racing bust. In 2019, he joined the IndyCar circuit for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. In his 8th start, he would get his first podium at the Belle Isle doubleheader. While he finished 17th in the points, it was an adjusting period for the Swedish driver. His other solid performances at Barber, Texas, and Iowa were enough for him to get a big break at one of the biggest teams in IndyCar, Chip Ganassi Racing in 2020. While he didn't set the world on fire and finished last of the Ganassi drivers in points, he wasn't far off compatriot Felix Rosenqvist, one of his teams who won a race at Road America. Then, in 2021, at the first race of the Belle Isle double-header Ericsson, after qualifying 15th made his way up to 2nd late in the race and when Power had issues late in the race, Ericsson became an IndyCar winner. Later on in the year after qualifying 18th in Nashville and literally breaking his front wing on Sebastien Bourdais and going airborne comes back to win the race putting him on the map. Oh, it gets even better. For this years Indianapolis 500 Marcus was in the shadow of his teammates as favorites. But when they all fell out of contention, Ericsson executed the restart of his life through the ultimate pressure to win the biggest race in the world. That momentum is what boosted him to this point where he is a championship contender. Imagine at one time thinking his career may be over, and all the people who thought he didn't have what it takes to possibly be on the verge of being an IndyCar champion. It'll be very popular in IndyCar should Ericsson pull it off.

Scott Dixon

The most accomplished driver on the grid is on the verge of a record equaling 7th championship. What may make this more impressive is that none of the 6 championships Dixon has won have been in consecutive years. All for Chip Ganassi Racing Dixon has won championships in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018, and 2020. This year almost looked like an off year for Dixon, but this isn't his first rodeo. Many times before Dixon has been able to come from behind several times to go win the championship and has broken several records in an amazing career. With 20 points to make up for a 7th championship, if anyone could do it, Dixon can.

Josef Newgarden

The only other multi time champion on the grid has arguably had the most sheer speed out of anyone but still comes in with a deficit to make up to claim his 3rd championship. Newgarden has had to fight for everything he had in IndyCar. He had to race for some midfield teams to get his big break. He was able to win 3 times for CFH Racing and Ed Carpenter Racing which got him his big break to Team Penske in 2017. And he took that opportunity with two hands winning his first championship in his first year with the team. Since he has been a formidable competitor winning at least 2 races a year since and also the 2019 championship, in a career year for most wins in a season with 5, and with the most laps lead of any driver this year he'll be pushing from the back to join an elite list of 3 time champions.

Will Power

The champion leader has the best position to win the championship, which will mean a lot in different ways. Power has went up against some of the best drivers like Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon from the late 2000s-early 2010s. He had to arguably lose a championship to win one in 2014. It looked like he may start a dominant run of form; however, his  biggest title rivals would be his teammates like Simon Pagenaud in 2016. Josef Newgarden in 2017 and 2019. 2021 happens, which was Power's worst season in a long time. It appeared that he was just going to be known as a 1 time champion, 2022 Will has been consistent all season long. He may only have 1 win, but he has a total of 8 podiums this season, which has propelled him to the best chance he's had to win the championship since 2014. He wants this more for his team, who he's been with for over a decade, who have been together through all the highs and lows of championship battles and the job is as simple as this. 1 more podium will finish the job.

Now I'm curious to hear from yall. Who do you think will be the 2022 IndyCar series champion?