Australian Will Power's final push for a second IndyCar championship has fallen short, placing third at the Grand Prix of Sonoma to finish the season in fifth.
American Josef Newgarden took out the title after finishing runner-up at Sunday's season-ending race in California, behind Simon Pagenaud of France.
The 36-year-old Power, who won the championship in 2014 for Team Penske, went into the race with a slight chance to steal the title this year.
But he did not have the speed to match Newgarden and Pagenaud, who finished one-two in the title standings, while New Zealand's Scott Dixon was third after his fifth placing.
Power claimed victories in Indianapolis, Fort Worth and Pennsylvania in 2017 among six podiums, finishing 80 points behind Newgarden.
Pagenaud didn't make it easy on Newgarden, who needed to finish in the top three at Sonoma to claim the season crown.
Pagenaud went with with a four-stop fuel strategy and used a shorter final stop to grab the lead from his main rival.
The key lap came with 23 laps to go when Pagenaud exited in front of Newgarden.
Newgarden had the warmer tires but he couldn't get past the Frenchman, who was making his car as wide as possible.
The lap was one for the ages as Pagenaud slid around the permanent road course north of San Francisco as the tyres slowly gained grip.
After that battle, Newgarden settled into second place and allowed the championship to come to him.
The separation at the finish was 1.1 seconds.
Newgarden finished the 17-race season 13 points ahead of Pagenaud.
He became the third Penske driver in four years to win the title, along with Power in 2014 and Pagenaud last year.
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