Scott Dixon fights back from 25th to 5th at Road America

Scott Dixon has staged an epic comeback at the latest round of the NTT Data IndyCar Series at Road America, finishing the race in fifth place as one of his chief championship rivals — Alexander Rossi — took the win. 

Dixon, who started the race in ninth following an engine failure in qualifying, spun on lap one following contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay. This dropped him from his already dismal grid position to 25th place.

By lap 10, Dixon was back to 15th place; aided by his primary tyres compared to those struggling on the soft-option tyre. Soon, he was in the top 10 and back onto the same strategic cycle as the race leaders. 

Poised in seventh with five laps to go, Dixon had the battling James Hinchcliffe and pole-sitter Colton Herta in his sights. As they squabbled and swapped positions, Dixon first nipped past Hinchcliffe. Then on the final lap, Dixon got by Herta too for fifth.

It's Dixon's sixth top five finish of the season thus far. A mixture of inconsistency and bad luck means he's fourth in the title standings, behind Simon Pagenaud, today's winner Rossi, and series leader Josef Newgarden. 

Newgarden ended today's race in second, behind fellow Team Penske driver Will Power. Neither had anything to threaten Rossi with — the Andretti Autosport driver cruising to a clear-cut 28-second win. 

The top 10 was rounded out by Dixon's teammate Felix Rosenqvist, Hinchcliffe, Herta, Pagenaud, and Takuma Sato.

The series now prepares to travel to Canada for round 11 of the series on July 14 — the Honda Indy Toronto.