Scott Dixon held off Will Power—the new championship front-runner and repeat Mario Andretti Road Trophy titlist - on a restart with two laps left to win the Indy Japan and remain a factor in the IZOD IndyCar Series title chase.
Power’s 11th top-five finish of the season bumped his point total to 542, which is 11 points ahead of Dario Franchitti, who finished eighth. Dixon is 59 points out of first heading into the final two races—both on 1.5-mile ovals.
“It was a good day for us points-wise in the championship, but I’m really not worried about points right now,” said Power, who clinched the Mario Andretti Road Trophy for the top points producer on the 10 road/street courses. “I just need to keep finishing in front of the 10 car (Franchitti) the rest of the way and we’ll be fine. We’ll keep chipping away like we have been.”
The championship chase turned on a Lap 26 restart when Franchitti, who carried a five-point leader over Power into the 63-lap race on the 2.983-mile road course, swung to the right and made contact with the right-rear of the No. 6 Guidepoint Systems Team Penske car driven by Ryan Briscoe entering Turn 1.
Dixon, who won by 3.4 seconds, picked up his 27th Indy car victory, breaking a tie with Rodger Ward and tying Johnny Rutherford for 11th on the all-time list. He has the distinction of winning on the 1.5-mile oval and now the 2.983-mile road course.
“I have to give a lot of credit to Team Target; they gave me a fantastic car. In some sections of the race I was just cruising trying to save fuel,” he said. “Great pit stops and fuel strategy, and everything was flawless.”
Results Sunday of the Indy Japan The Final IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 2.983-mile Twin Ring Motegi Road Course, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (1) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
2. (2) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
3. (10) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
4. (15) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
5. (16) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
6. (14) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
7. (19) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
8. (9) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
9. (20) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
10. (11) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
11. (23) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
12. (3) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
13. (8) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
14. (26) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
15. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
16. (18) Giorgio Pantano, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
17. (25) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
18. (22) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
19. (21) Ana Beatriz, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
20. (4) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
21. (13) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
22. (6) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 63, Running
23. (7) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 62, Off Course
24. (17) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 62, Running
25. (24) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 61, Off Course
26. (12) Joao Paulo de Oliveira, Dallara-Honda, 19, Mechanical
Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 96.635
Time of Race: 01:56:41.0107
Margin of victory: 3.4375 seconds
Cautions: 3 for 8 laps
Lead changes: 2 among 2 drivers
Lap Leaders: Dixon 1-20, Power 21, Dixon 22-63
Point Standings: Power 542, Franchitti 531, Dixon 483, Servia 397, Kanaan 353, Briscoe 340, Andretti 327, Hunter-Reay 317, Rahal 302, Castroneves 302.
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