Dixon qualifies eighth, Palou first of championship contenders

Scott Dixon will need to drive from eighth if he is to win tomorrow’s IndyCar Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, keeping his title ambitions alive.

After barely squeezing out of group one, Dixon could not progress into the pole position shootout.

The defending series champion was on the cusp of sneaking into the top six until quick laps by Pato O’Ward and Oliver Askew demoted Dixon to eighth.

Dixon says it has been a tough weekend so far, but he will try and turn around his fortunes tomorrow.

“It wasn’t a super clean lap,” he said. “Was chasing a couple of tenths here and there.

“We’ve struggled to get into flow this weekend.

“But it is how it is. We’ll see how tomorrow goes. Keep our heads down and keep pushing.”

Dixon’s two teammates are also in championship contention.

Marcus Ericsson is an outside chance and will need a win this weekend. He starts one place ahead of Dixon.

Alex Palou currently leads the points race and will start the race from P4.

Palou’s closest championship rival is Pato O’Ward, and the McLaren driver will start just two places behind the Spaniard.

Scott McLaughlin failed to progress past his first group stage and starts tomorrow’s race from 16th.

It was a disappointing result considering McLaughlin was fastest in free practice just hours before qualifying.

Winner of the 2019 rendition of the race, Colton Herta will start from pole position.

Will Power was provisionally on the front row until losing his fastest lap in the Fast Six due to a yellow flag infringement. It puts Alexander Rossi alongside Herta in P2.

Josef Newgarden is also firmly in the championship hunt. But he was knocked out in group one and starts down in 17th.