Dixon's victory in IndyCar finale was just what the series needed

Whew! I had to take a few breaths after watching one of the more intense and gripping IndyCar races in recent memory.

Whoever said that races at Sonoma, the up-and-down road course right in the middle of Napa Valley wine country in Northern California, were boring needs to sit down and watch a replay of Sunday’s 85-lap championship-deciding affair.

This race had everything that makes IndyCar racing so great: overtaking, contact – most notably between teammates, no less! – furious restarts, pit-road drama, and Queensland-born New Zealander Scott Dixon emerging unscathed at the very end, claiming not only a race win, but, more unbelievably, his fourth IndyCar series championship.

A week ago the IndyCar series was in the news for all the wrong reasons, after British favourite Justin Wilson died, hit by debris from an accident that he wasn’t even a part of.

Cue too many journalists who don’t know the first thing about IndyCar racing calling for the end of the sport. One particular article was so outlandish and factually incorrect that Canadian driver James Hinchcliffe felt aggrieved enough put the reporter in his place via Twitter. Talk about kneejerk reactions.

This race, seven days later, was exactly what the sport and the series needed as a way to bounce back, if only just a little.

There were six drivers mathematically able to win the 2015 series: Juan Pablo Montoya, Will Power, Graham Rahal, Helio Castroneves, Josef Newgarden, and Dixon.

In any series-deciding event, you’d hope for drama and a good show, but it was particularly important on Sunday, after drivers, teams and fans had grieved throughout the week for Wilson.

The drivers – whom to a man had spoken about how they just wanted to get behind the wheel and race, thus blocking out everything else, including the hurt they were feeling – put on one heck of a show.

What could have been for Team Penske duo Montoya and Power! Montoya, courtesy of winning the season-opening event at St Petersburg and the Indianapolis 500 led the points race for the entire year. He would have gone on to capture a second career championship, but for an ill-advised passing attempt that resulted in him punting Power off the course, too.

Oh, to have been able to read Roger Penske’s mind at that moment!

American Graham Rahal, whose two-win season is the feel-good story of 2015, was also struggling, openly admitting that he just didn’t have the car he really needed to get to the front.

Less-likely hopefuls Newgarden and Castroneves didn’t figure.

Dixon, however, loomed large as Montoya and Power and Rahal stumbled. It’s so typical of the driver known as the Ice Man. He’s cool as you like under pressure, and he drove a perfect race.

Yet, even with the race win, the championship was not certain – Montoya needed to finish sixth or further back for the points to be tied, with Dixon winning on a victory countback, three to two. Taking advantage of some drama ahead – two drivers were taken out in one incident; one penalised, the other with damage – Montoya surged late. He got to sixth, and was in sight of Australia’s Ryan Briscoe, running handily in fifth, with two laps to go, and closer still with one lap to go.

The closing laps were as tense as the final five at Indianapolis this year, again with Montoya involved.

If Sunday’s Grand Prix of Sonoma had been a 90-lap race, Montoya may well have gotten into the top five and denied Dixon his fourth championship. But it was a race over 85 laps, and Montoya came up short. Therefore, it was Dixon’s day.

And what a day! Saving fuel where he needed to, and driving like he was on new tyres all day, while others complained of tyre wear, Dixon’s Sonoma clinic delivered Chip Ganassi another series championship and Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s 100th race victory. There’s a double for you!

Scott Dixon now ranks as one of the all-time greats in IndyCar racing. Think that’s an over exaggeration? Check out these stats: he has as many championships as Mario Andretti, he’s one victory behind Al Unser on the all-time list of IndyCar race wins and, at age 35, isn’t without a shout of breaking A.J. Foyt’s record of seven American open-wheel championships.

In the last nine seasons, dating back to 2007, Dixon has won 31 races, including the 2008 Indianapolis 500, and captured three series championships. If that’s not enough to crown Dixon the most dominant driver of the last 10 years – at a bare minimum – I don’t know what is.

Dixon, at the top of his game right now, is going to add more wins and championships. He has at least another five good years in him!

It’s been a rough week for the IndyCar series. The death of Wilson has hit the sport hard, as did Dan Wheldon’s passing four years ago in Las Vegas. At least Dixon’s brilliant drive has reminded us of how good things can be in IndyCar land. Sunday’s race delivered in spades.

Congratulations, Scott Dixon. The Ice Man is a very deserving 2015 IndyCar series champion.