Scott Dixon earns masterful win in St. Louis race, stays alive in title picture

Scott Dixon earned his second IndyCar victory in a row Sunday, and the 55th of his career, getting the most from his fuel mileage at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Dixon, who started 16th because of a 9-place grid penalty for changing his engine for the fifth time this season, made his final fuel load last 65 laps. That enabled him to beat runner-up Pato O'Ward by 22 seconds.

Dixon is the only driver with a chance to catch Alex Palou in the points championship with two races remaining: Portland next weekend, and Laguna Seca on Sept. 10. Palou, Dixon's Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, finished seventh and holds a 74-point edge.

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"We'll keep pushing him," Dixon said. "We'll make it a little tense within the team."

Josef Newgarden, trying to sweep the season's ovals and win at this track for the fourth straight year, crashed out on Lap 211, leaving him in 25th place and ending his slim title hopes.

"I was trying to catch up," he said. "I was just trying to get through cars as quickly as I could and it didn't work out."

O'Ward, still winless in 2023, finished second for the fourth time this season.

"Scott Dixon was Scott Dixon today," O'Ward said. "Another second place in the books for 2023. There's two to go, so hopefully we'll get that elusive No. 1."

David Malukas finished third, followed by Alexander Rossi and Scott McLaughlin.

IndyCar results in St. Louis

1. Scott Dixon

2. Pato O'Ward

3. David Malukas

4. Alexander Rossi

5. Scott McLaughlin

6. Colton Herta

7. Alex Palou

8. Felix Rosenqvist

9. Will Power

10. Marcus Ericsson

11. Rinus VeeKay

12. Romain Grosjean

13. Santino Ferrucci

14. Ryan Hunter-Reay

15. Kyle Kirkwood

16. Conor Daly

17. Christian Lundgaard

18. Linus Lundqvist

19. Devlin DeFrancesco

20. Graham Rahal

21. Stin Ray Robb

22. Agustin Canapino

23. Helio Castroneves

24. Ed Carpenter

25. Josef Newgarden

26. Takuma Sato

27. Callum Ilott

28. Benjamin Pedersen

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar: Scott Dixon wins, stays close to Alex Palou in points race