Championship leader Scott Dixon believed his race was over before it had even started after getting caught up in the melee of the Turn 2 crash which involved five drivers at Portland International Raceway.
Dixon had only managed to qualify in 11th place in his #9 PNC Bank Ganassi entry which left him stuck in the heart of the midfield going into the notorious festival chicane.
It all started when Zach Veach pinched James Hinchcliffe on the outside kerb on the exit of Turn 2 and collided with the Canadian's #5 SPM Arrow car, spinning him round into the chasing pack behind with Dixon, Ed Jones, Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti who came in backwards and rolled over the top of the group of cars.
The New Zealander somehow managed to get away from the accident unscathed with his Honda engine still running, he was then able to escape the dirt and get back into the race, pit, and not lose a lap as the race came under caution.
"Definitely thought it was over before it began," said Dixon. "Old saying: better to be lucky than good. That definitely played out today.
"Had nowhere to go at the start. It was just one of those things. Tried to slow down, went sideways, hit from behind, off in the dirt. Hit pretty hard actually.
"Luckily I pulled the clutch once the dust cleared. I didn't think there was going to be a left front wheel on it. I looked, the wheel is there. Put it in emergency mode, started to get reverse.
"Was enough room behind me. Backed up. Got the guy to truck out of the way. Couldn't believe the thing was still driving.
"I thought at that point we were definitely going to be out because I thought we were going to get lapped. Luckily the pit sequence had already started for the leaders at that point, too, so it enabled us to stay on the lead lap. Got lucky with the caution."
Dixon leads Alexander Rossi by 29 points going into the double points finale at Sonoma on September 16.
