Dixon claims his 6th IndyCar championship

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Josef Newgarden’s best and probably only chance to keep his IndyCar crown was to win Sunday’s season finale.

Anything short of a victory on the streets of downtown St. Petersburg left Newgarden with almost no path to deny Scott Dixon another championship.

Newgarden used a spectacular two-car pass for the lead to indeed win at St. Pete but it wasn’t enough as Dixon stealthily finished third to collect yet another ring in his storied career. The 40-year-old New Zelander won his sixth title for Chip Ganassi Racing. He was a tactician and followed Newgarden all day; a finish of ninth or better gave him the title no matter where Newgarden finished.

“They just shadowed us all day, it was the smart play,” said Newgarden, who admitted his shot at the title was so slim it spoiled his mood the entire weekend.

Dixon was already looking forward to the next goal: A.J. Foyt’s record seven titles.

“Six is good. Seven sounds better, that’s the goal,” Dixon said.

Dixon has won two of the last three titles, a run interrupted last year when Newgarden won his second championship. The Tennessean tied Dixon with his series-best fourth win of the season but Newgarden was in too large of a hole after Dixon opened the abbreviated and pandemic disrupted schedule with three consecutive victories.

Newgarden, winner of twostraight at St. Pete, went to victory lane to congratulate his rival.

“I really don’t know what I’d do different this year and I don’t know what I’d ask my guys to do different. They were flawless,” Newgarden said. “We just weren’t able to get it done but we’ll reset and we’ll hit ’ em harder next year. I promise you we’ll be in the fight.”

The season was supposed to begin seven months ago on these same streets before it was abruptly canceled 48 hours before the green flag. It came to a close in front of a sold-out 20,000 spectators, the largest crowd of the season for IndyCar.

Although IndyCar lost races in seven cities and had just one street course, Sunday’s finale, still managed to complete a 14-race season.

NASCAR: In Fort Worth, weather caused the Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway to be halted after 52 laps following reports of moisture on the track on a chilly, overcast day.

The cars kept running for eight laps after the weather caution first came out as jet dryers circled the track Sunday. Clint Bowyer is leading after 52 laps, followed by Jimmie Johnson on the highbanked 1 ½ -mile tri oval. The race is scheduled to resume Monday.

Martin Truex Jr. was moved to the back of the field because of an illegal spoiler, and crew chief James Small was ejected. But Truex was all the way up to fifth when the race was stopped.

Joey Logano is the only driver guaranteed a spot in the final four after winning the first of three qualifying races last week in Kansas. Kevin Harvick, who has won the last three fall races in Texas and is a nine-time winner this season, is in the best shape among the other seven playoff contenders.

The weather conditions were deteriorating after the start of the 334-lap race.