IndyCar title race tightens up as Josef Newgarden cuts Scott Dixon's lead

Scott Dixon. Photo / File.

Kiwi Scott Dixon remains confident of a sixth IndyCars title despite his points lead being trimmed even further, going into the final race late this month.

Dixon led the series by 120 points after a flying start to the year, but that has been cut to 32 by American Josef Newgarden after the latest two races at Indianapolis over the weekend.

It was opportunity lost for Dixon, who could have wrapped up the title before the final showdown on Labour Weekend.

And adding to the pressure, defending series champion Newgarden won the Firestone GP at St Petersburg last year, ahead of Dixon.

"There's still a lot of hard work - as always the IndyCar comes down to the final race," Dixon said, after finishing eighth in the weekend's second race, where Newgarden was fourth.

"It's nice still to be leading, it's still a good margin, it still gives us a bit of a window. He has to get most laps led, all the bonus points, and we have to finish ninth.

" (but) they've been very good at St Petersburg over many years so we definitely have our work cut out."

Australian Will Power won the second 75-lap Harvest GP race this weekend, with Dixon's car suffering some damage after a touch with Ryan Hunter-Reay. But Dixon's team reported that it had little influence on the race.

Dixon won the IndyCar series in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015 and 2018.