IndyCar: Will Alexander Rossi pull off championship upset?

Scott Dixon appeared to be well on his way to his fifth career IndyCar championship, but Alexander Rossi is in a position to stop him. Will Rossi pull it off?

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon entered the 13th race of the 17-race 2018 IndyCar season, the Honda Indy 200, at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with a commanding lead in the championship standings.

The four-time IndyCar champion had just earned his third victory of the season in the Honda Indy Toronto on the streets of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This win was his second in the last four races and his third in the last six.

Dixon led Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who was in second place in the championship standings at the time, by 62 points (464 to 402), and he led Alexander Rossi, who was in third in the standings at the time, by 70 points (464 to 394).

At this point, it seemed like a surefire bet that “The Iceman” had put his fifth career IndyCar championship on ice, especially with the remaining five venues on the IndyCar schedule being venues at which he has had much past success.

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In fact, I even publicly stated that it would be tough to stop Dixon, and in doing so, I predicted that he would not finish lower than the top five in any of the season’s final five races. So far, I’ve been correct. He finished in fifth place in the Honda Indy 200, and he finished in third in the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway.

But I never would have guessed that his lead in the championship standings would have been cut to less than half of what it was during these last two races with his finishes being a good as they were.

While Dixon was staying consistent by recording his ninth and 10th top five finishes of the season, Rossi was busy winning — okay, dominating — races. In doing so, he tripled his season win total from one to three and closed to within 29 points (530 to 501) of the 38-year-old Kiwi in the championship standings.

With three races remaining in the 2018 season, the 26-year-old American is poised to pull off the upset over Dixon. While he doesn’t currently lead the championship standings, Rossi has undoubtedly been the fastest driver this season.

However, spinning out late in the race at Barber Motorsports Park, qualifying in 32nd place for the Indianapolis 500, getting a flat tire while trying to protect the lead late in the second race on the streets of Belle Isle and suffering a mechanical issue late in the race at Road America have caused Rossi to surrender boatloads of valuable points that otherwise would have positioned him well ahead of Dixon in the championship standings at this point.

But with the former Formula 1 driver firing on all cylinders following dominant victories in both the Honda Indy 200 and the ABC Supply 500, even Dixon may not have enough to prevent Rossi from derailing his quest for five championships.

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Will Alexander Rossi secure his first career IndyCar championship in just his third season in IndyCar, thus preventing Scott Dixon from winning his fifth career title this year?