Scott Dixon clinched a record fifth IndyCar series title on Sunday at Sonoma as he did all he needed to do and finish runner-up behind Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Things were made easier for Dixon when, going into Turn 1, title rival Alexander Rossi went into the back of team-mate Marco Andretti, causing a puncture for the 2016 Indy 500 champion.
Having won the title in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015 and now 2018, Dixon moves into second place in the all-time standings of titles won in the IndyCar series behind the great AJ Foyt on seven titles.
"Man, this is so awesome!" said Dixon, "I can’t believe that it’s actually happened. I can’t thank everybody enough for this, it’s so cool!"
While the Championship celebrations are one thing, it was Hunter-Reay in the #28 DHL Andretti Autosport Honda who claimed victory in Sonoma to round off a tough season with a top result, commanding the lead for the majority of the race with little threat from Dixon behind due to Rossi's misfortunes at the initial start.
Behind the leading pair was one of the other title contenders in Josef Newgarden who was trying to mount pressure on Dixon, but the veteran driver was all too wise and refused to be hustled into a mistake.
Eventually Penske's Will Power and the #30 Mi-Jack entry of Takuma Sato would get past debutant Patricio O'ward after the 19-year old made a mistake into the final chicane, this allowed Power and Sato a run into the hairpin at the end of the lap.
Sato's successful pass was to be short-lived after the Honda engine in his car had cried long enough after just 16 laps, letting go in spectacular fashion towards the end of the lap, giving the Japanese driver a chance to get off the track and into the pit-lane.
With the threat of a caution present, both Hunter-Reay and Dixon made their own pitstops the following lap to cover off any chance of being put towards the back of the pack.
It was at this stage of the race that Rossi, in the #27 NAPA Parts Honda, was trying to make a fuel number and do the race on one less stop than the leaders in an attempt to catch them later on, however, the Californian driver was just running too slowly and was forced into changing the strategy on lap 26 by heading for the pits once again to go more aggressive.
The change in race strategy meant he left the pit-lane a lap down behind team-mate Hunter-Reay and Dixon. It wasn't long before Rossi put pressure on Dixon in order to get back on the lead lap, the Kiwi did try and fend him off, but eventually he felt it was safer for him to let Rossi go and reduce the risk of a tangle between them.
Rossi then swiftly caught up to the back of Hunter-Reay and was allowed past to get back on the lead lap, Rossi's fortune was greatly improved as he got the one thing he desperately needed to get back into the race; Another caution, thanks to Graham Rahal's Rahal Letterman Lanigan Total entry coming to a halt.
Rossi made use of the yellow, stopping for fuel and tyres. As the laps ticked by, Rossi was passing cars wherever he could around the Sonama circuit in an attempt to close in on Dixon and pile on the pressure, but it wasn't going to be.
Hunter-Reay remained unchallenged in the latter stages to claim a 18th IndyCar victory after leading 80 of the 85 laps, such was his dominance of the Floridian during the race.
Dixon and Power crossed the line in close proximity to round off the podium.
Simon Pagenaud did well to move up through the pack and recover from eighth to finish in fourth ahead of Marco Andretti in fifth, his best result since the first race in Detroit.
Four-time champion Sebastien Bourdais crossed the line in sixth-place ahead of Rossi who just couldn't make up the places he needed in time after a valiant effort during the race.
Josef Newgarden dropped down the field during his first pit-stop after stalling his #1 Verizon Penske on trying to pull away from his pitbox and eventually finished in eighth.
Click here for full race results. The 2019 IndyCar season gets underway in St.Petersburg on March 10.
