Chevrolet Enters Dynasty Status by Seizing their Fourth Consecutive Verizon IndyCar Manufacturers’ Championship
The concept of a dynasty in the sports world is an interesting one. The word has to do with a single team’s domination of a league for an extended period of time. Think about organizations like the New York Yankees in the ‘30s and ‘40s, the Chicago Bulls and Dallas Cowboys in the ‘90s, and the Edmonton Oilers in the ‘80s. The current salary cap era of sports has made it much harder (if not pretty much impossible) to produce a dynasty in the modern age (the closest thing being probably the Chicago Blackhawks or the New England Patriots).
But, salary caps aside, Chevrolet made another mark in the pro-dynasty category recently by winning their fourth consecutive Verizon IndyCar Series Manufacturers’ Cup just hours before the Grand Prix of Sonoma, the final race in the IndyCar series, had even begun. “We’d like to congratulate Chevrolet on clinching the 2015 Manufacturers’ Championship and to thank Honda for its resilient competition throughout the season,” said Will Phillips, IndyCar Vice President of technology, in a league statement. “The Chevrolet IndyCar V6 [engine] has had a strong and consistent performance this season, which has been reflected by success on the racetrack in both race finishes and engine durability.”
Officials determine who will win the coveted Manufacturers’’ Cup by calculating which of the participating manufacturers has the highest number of points that are given in accordance with each manufacturers’ top three finishers. Additional bonus points are awarded to teams for things like receiving the Verizon P1 Award (which Chevrolet also picked up), leading the most laps, as well as any 2.2-liter V6 engine that hits a 2.500 mile threshold.
Usually, the winner of the Manufacturers’ Cup is announced following the final event of the Verizon IndyCar series, but Chevrolet’s performance this year was so dominating that the announcement was made before the final race even started. Still, that did not stop Chevrolet from picking up a win there too, when driver Scott Dixon and Team Chevy crossed the 85-lap Grand Prix of Sonoma finish line in first place, netting Chevrolet ten out of sixteen victories overall in the Verizon IndyCar Series.
Of course, Chevy was quick to point out that their winning of the Manufacturers’ Cup was very much a team effort. “Our fourth consecutive Manufacturers’ Championship is the result of consistent preparation, teamwork, and execution by our Chevrolet teams, drivers, and technical partners,” said Jim Campbell, Team Chevy U.S. Vice President of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “Together, we focused on delivering strong engine and aero performance all season long.”
As always, keep checking back in here with us at Apple Chevrolet for more information with regard to the coming Chevrolet dynasty, and come take a new Chevrolet car or truck for a test drive!