The achievement comes after claiming five victories across 17 rounds, including the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 28.
The push to the finish came courtesy of Team Penske’s Will Power, who finished fourth, along with Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Callum Ilott’s fifth in the season finale at Laguna Seca.
Their results overturned a points deficit to rival supplier Honda, whose best-placed eligible runners were Christian Lundgaard (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) in sixth and Romain Grosjean (Andretti Autosport) in 11th.
The final margin was just 12 points, with Chevy scoring 1437 to Honda's 1425.
“It was close,” said Jim Campbell, vice president of General Motors. “Big thanks to Will Power and Callum Ilott.
“They got the key positions for the key points to put us right over the top. Super proud of the fact this is, as you said, the second in a row, eighth overall since we returned to INDYCAR in 2012. It feels really good.
“Obviously, proud of the five wins, Josef with four and Scott McLaughlin’s one at Barber. Certainly, would have loved more wins, but we got the Manufacturers Championship. Super proud of that.”
Watching the development from the likes of Ilott, McLaughlin and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, who had seven podiums on the year, has also played a key role in establishing more consistency for the bow-tie brigade.
“No question,” Campbell said. “We have plenty of veterans on the team. These younger drivers are starting to make their mark.
“Super proud of all of them. They certainly showed their speed today. At the end obviously Will Power, a veteran, and Callum a younger driver.
“Healthy, robust programs, you need both, veterans and young up-and-coming drivers.”
One element that came into play this year compared to others was reliability, with several grid penalties handed out throughout the season for unapproved engine changes – along with not earning manufacturer points in many cases – across both of IndyCar’s powerplant suppliers.
Rob Buckner, the IndyCar program manager for Chevrolet, noted the struggles.
“Yeah, I think each one of those situations is unique,” Buckner said. “Sometimes it's crash damage. Can't comment on the Honda side, what issues they had.
“For us, I think it's a huge testament to the build quality of our engine builders, the way our trackside group works to eliminate any issues as they pop up. It really comes down to an attention-to-detail-type situation.
“Also, both of us are pushing these engines so hard compared to when they first debuted. They were right on that edge of reliability. So huge kudos to our trackside group for looking after everything.
“They're the reason we had cars on four engines eligible to score points.”
