IndyCar: Scott Dixon survives Josef Newgarden threat, wins 6th title

Scott Dixon secured his sixth career IndyCar championship despite a season-ending victory from championship rival Josef Newgarden.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden entered the 2020 IndyCar season finale on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida as the only driver able to surpass Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon for the lead of the championship standings.

Newgarden won the 100-lap race around the 14-turn, 1.8-mile (2.897-kilometer) temporary street circuit on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, giving him two consecutive victories at the venue where Dixon has surprisingly still not won.

But because Dixon entered this race with a 32-point lead in the standings, it was he who clinched his sixth career championship and became just the second driver to win six titles.

More from IndyCar

No driver has won a sixth championship since A.J. Foyt, who ended up winning seven, won his sixth title in 1975.

Newgarden, who entered the 2020 season as a reigning champion, had to settle for second place in the standings. With six races remaining on the 14-race schedule, he trailed Dixon by 117 points. He ended up losing the title by just 16 points after making up a whopping 101 points.

With Newgarden winning the race, he scored 51 points (50 for winning plus one for leading). By the time he took the lead, he had no chance to secure the two bonus points for leading the most laps, meaning that Dixon only needed a top 11 finish (19 points) to secure the title.

He finished in third place.

Dixon entered the race having already clinched the tiebreaker over Newgarden. While Newgarden was able to tie him with his fourth victory of the season in this race, Dixon entered the race with two runner-up finishes to Dixon’s one.

The pair have now combined to win each of the last four championships, with Newgarden taking it in the odd years and Dixon taking it in the even years.

Dixon became the first driver to win the championship after leading the standings following every single race since Sam Hornish Jr. won the 2001 title and Sebastien Bourdais won the 2006 Champ Car season. This championship battle was the 15th in a row to be decided in the season finale.

Next. Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time. dark

The 2021 IndyCar season is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, March 7 at the same venue where this season ended. Prior to the schedule changes caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida had been the season opener every year since 2011, and it is set to return to that spot next year.