Rossi outlasts Dixon to win at Watkins Glen

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Alexander Rossi and Scott Dixon were the big winners in Sunday’s Verizon IndyCar Series race at Watkins Glen International. Josef Newgarden was the biggest loser.

Newgarden entered the season’s penultimate race with a commanding 31-point lead over Dixon in the championship, but that all but dissipated when he hit the pit exit wall late in the race as Dixon ran second to Rossi.

That Rossi held off Dixon for the victory allowed Newgarden to retain the points lead, but it will be a free-for-all for the title Sept. 17 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway as Newgarden and Dixon are separated by just three points. The race awards twice the usual number of points, meaning whichever driver finishes ahead of the other has the best chance to become the champion.

It’s not a two-horse race, though, because Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud remain squarely in the hunt. Castroneves, who is seeking his first series title after 20 seasons in the sport, is 22 points out of the lead with Pagenaud 34 in arrears. At Sonoma, the first-place finisher could earn as many as 24 points more than second place finisher, so that means it’s anyone’s game at this point.

Newgarden probably wasn’t going to win this race at The Glen, but a top-five finish was within reach when he came off pit road for the final time on Lap 45 (of 60). But when it appeared he braked on exit to avoid running into the back of Team Penske teammate Will Power, his car veered to the left and hit the steel barrier. Then slowed, Newgarden was struck from behind by the car of Sebastien Bourdais. Tony Kanaan also became a victim in the incident.

“At the end there just a couple of mistakes there on my part,” Newgarden said. “It did not help us (and) put us way down in the order. We should have finished much higher, like sixth or fifth. It definitely wasn’t our day — just a dagger in the heart. It’s all going to come down to Sonoma.”

Bourdais said, “There was nowhere to go. I had a slight reaction, like you do, and I’m sure (Kanaan) had the same thing. Because of what’s happening in front of you, you just touch the brakes and you’re on cold tires so there’s not much you can do.”

Newgarden needed several minutes on pit road for repairs, forcing him to finish 18th. Up front, Rossi held off Dixon by 0.9 of a second for his first race win since the 2016 Indianapolis 500.

“I knew (Dixon) was going to be pushing like hell at the end and so it was really 12 (fast) qualifying laps, and I had the car to do it,” Rossi said. “We had the pace, the performance, the tire life, everything was going our way.”

Rossi won despite having a fuel hose problem on the first stop for fuel. His crew did not get much fuel in the car on that stop, forcing another stop soon thereafter. He regained track position when teammate Takuma Sato spun in Turn 7.

Dixon’s day wasn’t all that smooth, either.

“I locked up (the brakes) coming in on the first stop on the wet (tires), and then the car wouldn’t downshift, so I almost stalled the car,” he said. “I got into the pits and we couldn’t fuel it. And then we had a fumble later, lost four or five spots, so we had to pass a lot of cars today. It was definitely a lot of work.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay finished third with Castroneves fourth and Graham Rahal fifth.

Pagenaud finished ninth.

Pagenaud is the series’ reigning champion, and Dixon has won four times. A fifth title by Dixon would move him into second place alone behind A.J. Foyt’s seven. Mario Andretti, Dario Franchitti and Bourdais are the other drivers in the sport’s history with four titles.

Newgarden’s troubles are reminiscent of 2009 when another Penske driver — Ryan Briscoe — appeared in command of the standings only to crash leaving pit road in the penultimate race (then in Japan). Franchitti beat him in the finale to take the title.

NOTES: James Hinchcliffe’s race lasted only fifth laps before a gearbox failure knocked him out. … Alexander Rossi started on the pole for the first time in his IndyCar career. He recently signed for 2018 with Andretti Autosport. … Rossi won despite having a fuel hose problem on the first stop for fuel. His crew did not get much fuel in the car on that stop, forcing another stop soon thereafter. He regained track position when teammate Takuma Sato spun in Turn 7. … Scott Dixon finished in the top three for the 96th time in his career and the seventh time this season.