SCOTT DIXON CLINCHED HIS SIX INDYCAR CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE

Josef Newgarden won the NTT IndyCar Series season finale Sunday but came up short of winning the championship as Scott Dixon clinched his sixth title with a third place in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Dixon championship title – Both drivers started deep in the midfield but kept their noses clean while others around them faltered. Dixon closely shadowed Newgarden throughout the race and eventually finished third.

The 2020 season finale was filled with tension and a ton of action including six caution periods, several crashes, the safety car running out of fuel and even a late rain shower.

After powering through the field in the early stops Newgarden found himself in the top five and when Andretti Autosport capitulated having dominated the race with a 1-2-3. He took over the lead but was always kept in sight by Dixon throughout the race.

Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward found himself in second place after Colton Herta out-braked himself into Turn 4 for a second time in the late stages of the race.

FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG FINAL RESULTS

RANK	CAR NO.	DRIVER	NAT	TEAM	GAP
1	1	Josef Newgarden	USA	Team Penske	2:06:13
2	5	Pato O’Ward	MEX	Arrow McLaren SP	– 4.140
3	9	Scott Dixon	NZL	Chip Ganassi Racing	– 6.156
4	14	Sebastien Bourdais	FRA	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	– 7.413
5	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	USA	Andretti Autosport	– 9.752
6	22	Simon Pagenaud	FRA	Team Penske	– 10.577
7	8	Marcus Ericsson	SWE	Chip Ganassi Racing	– 11.069
8	4	Charlie Kimball	USA	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	– 15.858
9	15	Graham Rahal	USA	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	– 16.374
10	30	Takuma Sato	JPN	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	– 16.774
11	88	Colton Herta	USA	Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport	– 24.214
12	59	Max Chilton	ENG	Carlin	– 30.472
13	55	Alex Palou (R)	ESP	Dale Coyne Racing w/ Team Goh	– 43.579
14	26	James Hinchcliffe	CAN	Andretti Autosport	– 1:04.066
15	21	Rinus VeeKay (R)	NED	Ed Carpenter Racing	– 2 laps
16	7	Oliver Askew (R)	USA	Arrow McLaren SP	– 2 laps
17	20	Conor Daly	USA	Ed Carpenter Racing	– 2 laps
18	10	Felix Rosenqvist	SWE	Chip Ganassi Racing	– 2 laps
19	60	Jack Harvey	ENG	Meyer Shank Racing	– 3 laps
20	98	Marco Andretti	USA	Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco Andretti & Curb Agajanian	Crashed
21	27	Alexander Rossi	USA	Andretti Autosport	Crashed
22	3	Scott McLaughlin	NZL	Team Penkse	Crashed
23	18	Santino Ferrucci	USA	Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser-Sullivan	Crashed
24	12	Will Power	AUS	Team Penkse	Crashed

The Mexican was in a position to challenge Newgarden for the win, but would have to settle for the runner-up spot for the third time in 2020 as the two-time champion pushed on for the victory.

Dixon was able to hold his nerve to claim his sixth IndyCar title after a tough race coming through the field from 11th on the grid. It’s his first podium finish since winning the first race at Gateway in August.

Sebastien Bourdais – a two-time winner at St.Petersburg – claimed A.J Foyt Racing’s best result of the season with a fourth place finish in just his third IndyCar start of the campaign.

Ryan Hunter-Reay crossed the line in fifth place after coming from the back of the field, the No28 DHL-Honda was the highest place Andretti car after its race completely fell apart.

Simon Pagenaud also made up several places from 12th on the grid to finish sixth, even though the Frenchman was involved in several clashes in the midfield – one of which ended the race for Marco Andretti after the pair touched in Turn 4.

Ganassi’s Marcus Ericsson made his way back into top 10 in seventh with a clean race from 15th after a tough run of results at the last two races at Indianapolis.

The second A.J Foyt car of Charlie Kimball claimed eighth which gives the team its first two finish inside the top 10 since Gateway in 2017 with Conor Daly and Carlos Munoz.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing rounded out the top 10 places with Graham Rahal and the recently resigned two-time Indy 500 winner, Takuma Sato.

Several drivers had a difficult race with the likes of Alexander Rossi, James Hinchcliffe and Will Power falling out of the race from podium positions.

Marco Andretti was tagged by Pagenaud which cut a tyre which led to a spin and in subsequent crash into the wall at Turn 5.

IndyCar rookie Scott McLaughlin also dropped out of the race after spinning around trying to pass Andretti in lap 47, Rookie of the Year winner Rinus VeeKay also got caught up in the accident.

Hinchcliffe was also on the list of spinners, but the Canadian made a mess of trying to rejoin the racetrack as he clattered into Britain’s Jack Harvey, spoiling both their afternoons.

The NTT IndyCar Series will return to action in St.Petersburg on March 7, 2021.

SCOTT DIXON CLINCHED HIS SIX INDYCAR CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE SCOTT DIXON CLINCHED HIS SIX INDYCAR CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE SCOTT DIXON CLINCHED HIS SIX INDYCAR CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE

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