Dixon won’t do it differently in title bid

Scott Dixon will keep it simple when he bids for yet another IndyCar title at the looming 2017 season finale.

Kiwi driver Dixon finished second at the penultimate event on the 2017 calendar in New York on Monday, moving him into second overall and just three points behind championship leader Josef Newgarden.

Double points are up for grabs in the final race of the season in Sonoma, California on September 17 and the right result for the 36-year-old, south Auckland-raised star would take him to a fifth crown, putting him outright second all-time behind American legend AJ Foyt.

But Dixon, who came from behind going into Sonoma to win his last championship in 2015, said his almost 15 seasons of experience in IndyCar had taught him to stay consistent with his approach.

‘‘I’ve been in situations like that before,’’ he said after finishing on the podium in New York.

‘‘I’ll probably have a couple beers, chill out, take the kids to school tomorrow morning, then get in some training. you’ve just got to treat [Sonoma] as another race. You can’t overcomplicate it.

‘‘Obviously we want to win it - there’s a lot on the line. But if you overthink things too much, it ends up being a very bad thing.’’

While they occupy the top two positions on the ladder, the double points nature of the final race means Dixon and Newgarden are not the only drivers still in contention for the title.

Mathematically, seven drivers remain in the mix for overall honours, with Dixon the only driver in the top five not part of the powerful Team Penske stable.

Dixon has a 19-point buffer to third-placed Helio Castroneves, while the Kiwi is 31 ahead of defending champion Simon Pagenaud and 65 clear of 2014 champion Will Power.

‘‘I’ve never raced Josef for a championship like this, and it’s not just the two of us,’’ the 41-time race winner said.

‘‘I haven’t seen the points yet, but I imagine Helio [Castroneves] is through, [Simon] Pagenaud is still there as well. With double points, you can have a pretty hefty swing, as we found out last year [when] we had a really bad race.

‘‘We’ll take it as it comes and try to get the most out of the test next week. I know Penske is testing there this week, as well. Anything can happen.’’

Newgarden had a 31-point advantage on Dixon heading into the New York race but the young Team Penske talent had a day to forget.

The 26-year-old crashed into a wall while exiting pit lane and finished down in 18th, allowing Dixon to close the gap significantly and set up an exciting finale in Sonoma.