INDIANAPOLIS — Forty-one drivers raced Indy cars this season, so here are 41 sentences to recap their seasons.

1. Scott Dixon (678 points): The definition of consistent, the Ice Man rode a seemingly endless string of quality finishes en route to his fifth championship and a spot on IndyCar’s Mt. Rushmore.

2. Alexander Rossi (-57): The season’s one-man highlight reel couldn’t rip the title away from Dixon, but the 26-year-old phenom prove throughout a dominant campaign that multiple championships are in his future.

3. Will Power (-96): With any sort of good fortune – he had four DNFs this year – he’d have been fighting for the championship at Sonoma, but as he said in Portland, “I don’t care if DNF’ed every race as long as I have the (Indianapolis) 500.”

4. Ryan Hunter-Reay (-112): Snapped a long winless streak and an even longer pole-less streak en route to his best championship finish since 2012, while also helping elevate Andretti to the level of Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske.

5. Josef Newgarden (-118): A mediocre May and June derailed the 2017 champion’s quest to “Defend the 1,” but he still won three races, led the most laps and remains a central figure in IndyCar’s bright future.

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6. Simon Pagenaud (-186): Salvaged what could have been a lost season with a solid string of finishes at the end of the year, but he’ll be the first to tell you that zero wins at Team Penske simply isn’t good enough.

7. Sebastien Bourdais (-253): The 39-year-old four-time champion made crystal clear at St. Petersburg, Long Beach and Mid-Ohio that he remains one of the most talented drivers in the sport, but until he and Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan team find more consistency, this will be as high as they climb in the championship.

8. Graham Rahal (-286): While there may not be many better race day drivers in the field than Rahal, qualifying remains a massive bugaboo (average starting sport of 13.2) – one they must address before they can be considered contenders to take down the Big 3 teams and fight for championships.

9. Marco Andretti (-286): Failed to get his first win since 2011, but showed steady progress and delivered consistent results to record his best championship finish since 2015.

10. James Hinchcliffe (-287): There were some good runs – probably not as many as he would have liked – but credit to Hinchcliffe and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for fighting through intense adversity with the utmost class and care.

11. Robert Wickens (-287): When people are arguing if his rookie season was the best since Nigel Mansell's, that says everything you need to know about how good Wickens was this year.

12. Takuma Sato (-327): The victory in Portland and 12th-place finish in the championship – the second best finish of his career – prove the the 41-year-old Japanese star is getting better with age.

13. Ed Jones (-335): The talented young driver accomplished a lot in Year 1 at Chip Ganassi Racing – including podiums at Long Beach and Detroit – but they might not be enough to save his job alongside the reigning champ.

14. Spencer Pigot (-353): In his first year as a full-time driver, Pigot didn’t take the massive leap forward some had projected, but he did enough to earn an extension at Ed Carpenter Racing with a sterling second half of the season, including a runner-up finish at Iowa.

15. Zach Veach (-365): In the second half of the season, Veach flourished on and off the track, recording a run of four consecutive top-10 finishes while earning high marks from teammates for his contributions to their car set-ups.

16. Tony Kanaan (-366): Kanaan became the latest driver to struggle in his first year at A.J. Foyt Racing, but unlike many others, he will be back for a second season where he has high hopes for helping turn this program around.

17. Charlie Kimball (-391): No one at Carlin Motorsports will be satisfied with a 17th-place finish in the championship, but Kimball was often a beacon of hope for the new team, as he gave them something to build on with six of their top-10 finishes this season.

18. Matheus Leist (-425): The flashes of brilliance were few and far between, but like Kanaan, Leist will have the opportunity to continue what he started this season in hopes of finding his first top-10 finish in 2019.

19. Max Chilton (-455): A year after being reinvigorated by a fourth-place finish at Indianapolis, Chilton was rarely a factor on race weekends, never recording a top 10 and finishing ahead of Carlin teammate Kimball just six times in 17 tries.

20. Gabby Chaves (-491): Chaves looked like he'd be the building block as Harding built steadily toward success, but the team opted for the fast track – a partnership with Andretti Autosport and George Steinbrenner IV – leaving the young Colombian on the outside looking in.

21. Ed Carpenter (-491): Carpenter put any retirement talk to bed with top-10 finishes in 4-of-6 races this season, including an incredible Indianapolis 500 in which he started on pole and finished runner-up.

22. Jordan King (-503): Carpenter wants King back in his No. 20 car for road and street circuit races next year, as King showed plenty of pace this season (especially in qualifying) but between some mistakes and misfortunes, was never able to put together a complete weekend.

23. Zachary Claman De Melo (-556): Blew away expectations in his oval debut at Indianapolis and showed pace at some other races, but ultimately the results were nothing to write home about.

24. Jack Harvey (-503): In six races, both Harvey and Meyer Shank Racing showed steady growth, and had the yellow flag stayed out a bit longer at Indianapolis, they really would have had something to hang their hats on.

25. Carlos Munoz (-583): Reliably excellent at Indy (seventh), but left a bit to be desired on road courses while filling in for Wickens in the No. 6 car at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

26. Pietro Fittipaldi (-587): If we learned anything about Fittipaldi this year, it’s that he’s one tough son of a gun, as he bounced back from horrific injuries to turn some impressive laps at Gateway, where he finished ninth, and Portland (11th).

27. Santino Ferruci (-612): The 20-year-old’s character can rightly be called into question following his antics in F2, but his talent was unquestionably on display in Sonoma, where he finished 11th in just his fourth IndyCar start.

28. Rene Binder (-617): The young Austrian didn’t enjoy much success this year, but it’s tough to read much into results on a Juncos Racing team that is still figuring out how to field a competitive IndyCar program.

29: Conor Daly: (-620): Daly turned desire, charisma and technical acumen into three post-Indianapolis races with Harding, where the team quickly grew fond of him for his effort and technical feedback, though what that means for his IndyCar future remains up in the air.

30: Kyle Kasier: (-633): Juncos is still learning, but kudos to the 2017 Indy Lights champ for impressive qualifying runs at Phoenix and Indianapolis (14th and 17th) and for finishing just 16 points behind his teammate (Binder) in two fewer races.

31: Pato O’Ward (-634): A sensational Indy Lights campaign ended in a championship and a full-time IndyCar ride with the newly minted Harding Steinbrenner Racing.

32. Helio Castroneves (-638): All that matters now is No. 4, and while he didn’t get it this year, he got his boss to commit to giving him another shot next year.

33: J.R. Hildebrand (-640): Was quietly, but not surprisingly, strong at Indy with an 11th-place finish, but his IndyCar future remains uncertain.

34. Stefan Wilson (-647): Wilson waited two years to take another shot at Indy, and he nearly made it a life-changing moment with a clever fuel strategy.

35. Oriol Servia (-651): Servia’s fuel strategy at Indy didn’t work out, but he was fearless and deserves to be among the first to get a call for available one-offs next year.

36. Alfonso Celis (-655): It’s hard to fault a 22-year-old for showing little pace in an Indy car when he only had two races of Indy Lights experience before.

37. Colton Herta (-658): O’Ward got the best of Herta this year in Indy Lights, but Herta remains one of the most talented young drivers to ascend into IndyCar in the past decade, and his continued rivalry will O’Ward will be fun to watch.

38. Danica Patrick (-665): Hate her or love her, Patrick was not a “side show” or distraction and proved it by qualifying in the Fast 9 while her team boss finished runner-up.

39. Jay Howard (-666): Hung onto his 500 ride through the Hinchcliffe Bump Day saga and continues to grow his driver development program.

40. Sage Karam (-668): Following a fourth straight DNF at Indy, Karam was a semi-regular presence around paddock as he continues to try and land a full-time IndyCar ride.

41. James Davison (-668): Part of a thrilling Bump Day and managed to make headlines by taking some verbal jabs at Hinchcliffe before crashing early in the race.

Follow IndyStar Motor Sports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter and Facebook: @jimayello.