At a glance

Indycar series standings:

Scott Dixon 423, Helio Castroneves 420, Simon Pagenaud 404, Josef Newgarden 400, Will Power 359, Graham Rahal 359, Takuma Sato 351, Alexander Rossi 330, Tony Kanaan 306, James Hinchcliffe 297. chunk of points he had left behind across the opening 11 rounds.

He had mixed five podium finishes, including victory at Wisconsin late last month, and two other top fives with a DNF after his spectacular crash at the Indy 500, a ninth in Texas and those disappointing results at the last two events.

‘‘I typically try not to focus on the ‘coulda, shoulda, woulda’ scenarios, but I can see how our lead might be bigger if some things had gone differently – but I imagine it’s the same for every driver,’’ he told said. ‘‘I’m not saying we deserve anything more than what we’ve gotten, but you can look at Indy and see we had a top-five car before the crash.

‘‘Points are tight right now, and there aren’t many races left, so we can’t afford any additional disappointments.’’

History suggests there is less risk of that this weekend. Dixon has won five times at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course since 2007 and finished in the top five on three other occasions.

But after almost 15 years in IndyCar, and a 22nd-place finish there last season, the driver who turned 36 last weekend knew all too well that whether that track record turned into more success was another thing altogether.

‘‘It does add pressure just for the sheer fact that you’re expected to have a very good weekend,’’ Dixon said. ‘‘But it’s not always the case.

‘‘For me it’s not a place that guarantees you anything. Yes it’s been a successful place for us in the past, but that doesn’t mean anything.’’