Scott Dixon remains well in contention to win this year’s IndyCar championship, but wildly aggressive driving by some drivers could swing the season around in an instant.
Dixon dropped from third to fourth in the driver’s standings after yesterday’s race at Gateway Motor Speedway in Illinois.
He is 43 points down on new series leader Pato O’Ward with three races remaining after finishing 19th yesterday.
“If we can have three strong races to finish the season then we are not out,” Dixon said.
The Kiwi was an innocent victim of a crash on lap 65 that wiped him out of a strong finishing position.
Rinus Veekay pitched Dixon into a spin. The defending series champion then crashed rear-end first into the outside concrete wall.
Erstwhile points leader Alex Palou was also eliminated in the incident.
A nonchalant Dixon didn’t speak a lot about the crash following the race but suggested this year has witnessed overly aggressive driving.
“We’ve had some pretty erratic and crazy driving this season, but it just seems to go unnoticed,” he said.
It is crashes like Dixon’s that ruin otherwise enthralling championship battles.
Gateway race winner Josef Newgarden agreed with Dixon’s comments.
“I think people are driving aggressively these days.
“You almost have to match it to some degree because if you don’t, you just get run over.
“I would agree with [Dixon].”
O’Ward finished second to Newgarden yesterday, and despite having a seemingly clean race, he added that some drivers are abusing their championship position and upsetting the race of others.
“People know who they can race dirty or not. I had a lot to lose, and they know that,” O’Ward said.
“They’re just taking advantage of what position they’re in in terms of the championship because it’s almost finishing.”
Main Image: Associated Press