Dixon fourth after Indy pace car crashes

Kiwi IndyCar driver Scott Dixon has completed a solid weekend in Detroit but he won’t be the most talked about driver.

Neither will yesterday’s race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay.

That’s because the second race of the weekend will be best remembered for a bizarre incident that saw the pace car driver crash just before the race was scheduled to get under way.

The pace car driver lost control in a warm-up lap, spun and made contact with the wall. The incident delayed the start of the race by 30 minutes after the pace car suffered significant damage.

Dixon, who won the opening race the previous day, had to settle for fourth but the two results – that follow his third place at last weekend’s Indy 500 – has thrust the Kiwi star firmly into title contention.

A four-time IndyCar championship winner, Dixon has climbed into second place in the championship standings.

Indy 500 winner Will Power tops the points ladder with 309 points but Dixon is now just five points behind in second.

Dixon’s race win at Detroit earlier in the weekend was his first victory of the season but he has been consistent with five top-five finishes in eight races.

That victory took Dixon to 42 career IndyCar wins, a figure that moved him up to a tie for third on the all-time list with Michael Andretti.