Motorsport: IndyCar weekend to forget for Scott Dixon

Scott Dixon struggled this weekend. Photo / AP

Kiwi driver Scott Dixon has slipped down the standings after a poor weekend in the latest round of the IndyCar series.

After six-time series champ Dixon spun Chip Ganassi's No 9 Honda on his final lap in qualifying, things didn't get any better today on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course.

He started 26th, in the second-to-last row, and Dixon thought he could make up ground with pit strategy. It didn't work. After being the first driver onto pit row just 10 laps into the race, Dixon wound up finishing 17th in a race that had only the two late yellow flags.

Just six days after enduring one of the most frustrating races of his career, Will Power took an early lead, pulled away from the field and held on for his first win of the season, beating Romain Grosjean to the yard of bricks by 1.1142 seconds.

"Big relief - especially for my guys on the team," Power said. "I just told myself, 'I'm getting this bloody restart, there's no way I'm giving this race away'."

It was a milestone trip to victory lane, too.

His 40th career win broke a tie with Al Unser for fifth on the series' all-time list.

The Australian, who started second, desperately needed this one.

Last weekend at Nashville, Power finished 14th, squeezing one teammate, Simon Pagenaud, into a wall early in the race and later colliding with another teammate, Kiwi Scott McLaughlin.

"Certainly, the incident with McLaughlin was not good," Power said. "I didn't see Roger [Penske] after the race. I thought, 'I need to win a race before I speak to him again'. Fortunately, I did that."

Alex Palou looked like he was going to pad his points lead when he was running fourth with 17 laps to go — well ahead of Dixon, who sat second in the series standings. Then, suddenly, a puff of smoke appeared from the back of the No 10 Honda and the powerless car rolled to a stop.

"It's a shame when you're running so good," Palou said.

With Palou finishing 27th in the 28-car field, everybody else made up ground. Pato O'Ward, who finished fifth, passed Dixon for second in the standings, 21 points behind. Dixon, who started with a 42-point deficit, now trails by 34 in third, and two-time series champ Josef Newgarden remained fourth, 55 points behind.

- AP