Jeff Roberson/AP
Alex Palou is the 2023 IndyCar series champion. (File photo).
Scott Dixon has finished third at the Portland Grand Prix on a day when his teammate Alex Palou clinched the IndyCar series title.
Palou, 26, won at Portland International Raceway on Sunday (Monday NZ time) to take the title with one race remaining in the championship.
Dixon – a six-time Indycar champion – needed to win to put pressure on the Spaniard, but could only manage third with Palou, in the No. 10 The American Legion Honda, finishing 5.4353sec ahead of Felix Rosenqvist in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
Palou, who drives along with Dixon for Chip Ganassi Racing, also won the championship in 2021.
The IndyCar website confirmed Palou was the first driver since Sebastien Bourdais in 2007 to wrap up the title with a race to spare.
Palou has a 91-point lead over the second-placed Dixon going into the final race at Laguna Seca in California next weekend.
It was Chip Ganassi Racin’gs 15th IndyCar title, second only to Team Penske’s 17.
This was Palou’s series-leading fifth victory of the season, and he has finished eighth or better in all 16 races this season.
The Spaniard had said before the race that he was wary of Dixon’s potential title threat.
“I would say Scott Dixon is the worst driver you can have chasing you,” Palou told The Associated Press. “If it was someone else, they might not handle the pressure. But Scott was in a bad position last week in the first stint [at Gateway] and ended up winning, and he was in a bad position at the Indianapolis road course and he ended up winning.
“When everything goes well for him, he wins. When everything goes bad for him, he makes it stick. He is obviously the worst driver to have in this position.”
MORE TO COME
