The ticket for leader Dixon

called “dreadful”. He entered the weekend with a three-point lead in the series but Newgarden won at Mid-Ohio to overtake him and Dixon dropped to third.

Dixon never recovered and finished the season third behind Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud.

“The strategy was off a little bit,” Dixon said of the 2017 race. “We had a top three or four car, then we had two really bad pit stops. One was about 12 seconds longer than it should have been.”

There have been other blips but more success for Dixon in his 17-year relationship with Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon earned series titles in 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2015. He also won the 2008 Indianapolis 500.

“I feel really fortunate and blessed and love to do what I do and probably didn’t think I’d ever get to 300 races,” Dixon said. “I’d like to keep building on that number.”

Driving the No 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing car with a Honda engine, he has three wins this year and 44 in his Indy career, eight shy of tying Mario Andretti for second but well short of leader AJ Foyt’s 67.

“For us, it’s keeping our heads down and focusing on the next one for the last five races, and keeping that mindset,” Dixon said.

His rivals know they will need luck to deny Dixon a fifth series championship, which would leave him behind only Foyt’s seven.

“He’s had a great run this year,” said Will Power, who trails Dixon by 93 points. “He’s been very consistent but if he has a little bit of a bad run here and we have a great run, it’s absolutely possible to catch him.”