The sunset of the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season finale is upon us with Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, INDYCAR Radio Network)

• Rookie Of The Year – Marcus Armstrong leads Agustin Canapino by 26 points for the distinction of being the top rookie driver this season. Can he hold off the Argentinean driver on Sunday? He’ll start 14th and Canapino 19th.
• Leaders Circle – Canapino entered last weekend’s race -1 but with being in the top 20 and Tom Blomqvist down in 25th and Devlin DeFrancesco behind Canapino, he was going to be on the good side of the cut line. Instead, he’s now -5 after a late race spin. Blomqvist finished 24th and went from +1 to -3. DeFrancesco finished 17th and moves from -4 to +3 heading into the season finale. That has massive implications in the sense that if he can stay in the top 22, then Andretti may keep four cars around in 2024. If he falls back even one spot, then they may downsize to three cars.
  • Juri Vips finished 18th and gained 5 points in going from +1 to +6. Ryan Hunter-Reay is +13, Helio Castroneves is now +34 and Santino Ferrucci +35.
  • It’s likely now coming down to Vips, DeFrancesco, Blomqvist and Canapino for the final two spots. 2 get in the money and 2 don’t.
  • They’ll start: Castroneves (27th), Hunter-Reay (25th), Blomqvist (21st), Vips (13th), Canapino (19th), DeFrancesco (26th), Robb (24th), Pedersen (23rd).
• Top Penske Driver – Josef Newgarden holds a 22 point lead over Scott McLaughlin for the honors of being the top Penske driver. Who ends up on top on Sunday? McLaughlin starts P2 and Newgarden P4.
• Top Chevrolet Driver – Newgarden leads Pato O’Ward by just 9 points for P3 in points to where Scott McLaughlin is 22 points back himself. How does this race play out?
• Points Streaks – Scott Dixon has finished in the top 4 in 17 of the last 18 years now. He clinched P2 in points last Sunday. In that span, he’s finished 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 1st, 3rd, 3rd, 5th, 2nd, 1st, 17th, 4th, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 12th in season finales too. Josef Newgarden has finished 2nd in each of the last 3 points championships but will do no better than 3rd now. He’s finished in the top 2 in 4 of the last 6 season finales including 3 straight years too (1st, 2nd, 2nd). Can he hold onto 3rd or is he going to be relegated to 5th? Scott McLaughlin went from 14th in points in 2021 to 4th last year. Can he get at least 4th this year? Marcus Ericsson went from 17th (2019) to 12th (2020) to 6th (2021) to 6th again last year. Coming into Sunday, he sits…P6 in points. Will Power has 12 top 5 points finishes in the last 13 years. He’s too far back on points back from doing so this year as he’s in P7. Colton Herta is 10th but has alternated season finale wins in going 1st to 11th to 1st to 11th to…1st? He’s finished 7th, 3rd, 5th and 10th in points during his career. He’s after his former teammate Alexander Rossi whose worst points finish is 11th as a rookie in 2016. Since then, he finished 7th, 2nd, 3rd 9th, 10th, 9th and currently sits…9th. He’s +1 on Herta and just +2 on 11th.
• Winless Droughts – No one wants to go winless throughout an entire season. Heading into the season finale, here’s who’s riding a longer winless streak: Graham Rahal (107 races ago – Belle Isle 2017), Felix Rosenqvist (60 races ago – Road America 2020), Rinus VeeKay (45 starts ago – GMR Grand Prix 2021), Helio Castroneves (39 races ago – Indianapolis 2021), Colton Herta (29 races ago – GMR Grand Prix 2022), Will Power (27 races ago – Belle Isle 2022), Pato O’Ward (22 races ago – Iowa 2022), Alexander Rossi (21 races ago – Gallagher Grand Prix 2021).
• Chevy vs. Honda – Just 16 points separate the two engine manufacturers for the honors of taking home the 2023 manufacturers award. Last year, Chevrolet ended Honda’s four-year reign between 2018 and 2021. However, when Chevy came back to the fold in 2012, it was a very Chevy dominated award. They won six straight years between 2012 and 2017. Then, with the UAK coming out in 2018, Honda won the first four years only for Chevy to take it back last season. Now, it’s a tight battle between the two which will wrap up on Sunday. Honda has 1,362 points compared to 1,346 to Chevy. How points are scored are based off the top two finishers from the respective camps each race. Bonus points are taken in account which is why despite Honda having a 11-5 advantage in regards to race victories, the gap is closer than you’d think it would be.