MADISON, Ill — Scott Dixon’s team elected to take the engine swap prior to this weekend’s race and while his No. 9 Dallara-Honda would be fresh, it would cost him nine spots at the start of Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500. So, despite qualifying 7th, he would drop to 16th once the green flag dropped.

For a track that rewards track position and having seen 8 of the last 9 winners come from the top five of the starting lineup, just getting into the top five would have felt like a win for Dixon.

But, this is Scott Dixon that we’re talking about here. While the task was a tall one in order to remain in the championship conversation leaving here, his bid for a record tying seventh championship still remains intact via a masterful drive and strategy employed by the Chip Ganassi Racing bunch.

By running the first stint longer than anyone else, Dixon pit for the first time on Lap 65. It was that moment that he’d go on the Firestone alternate tires.

Josef Newgarden led the first 62 laps before he pit. Pato O’Ward would pit one lap prior. The duo had a commanding strangle hold on the top two spots. The second stop, they flip flopped.

O’Ward this time blinked first on Lap 102. Newgarden followed one lap later. They’d have an intense battle for what they thought would be the lead when it cycled back. Dixon had other thoughts in mind.

They were going to run this stint long too. It was a worry for him, but they tried it out anyhow.

“Yeah, there was definitely some tense moments,” Dixon admitted. “I think probably the hardest part was the restart where we were leading, having to get a pretty high fuel number. We weren’t getting it. We were a ways off.

“But I knew we could kind of stress that kind of second through fifth pack, get them into a pretty vulnerable situation. I knew once we caught the back markers we’d be able to save and get beyond the fuel mileage that we needed to. It actually worked out perfectly. We were able to go further and beyond where we needed to.”

Dixon credited Honda for that fuel mileage while doing so.

“To get the car in the zone, obviously the pace was still good, we could maintain almost a flat-out pace, but get almost, I don’t know, one mpg higher than you would regularly,” Dixon continued.

“It was pretty special. Obviously a team effort. There were definitely times, especially when we got to the red tire as well, I don’t think it’s going to last. We kind of got stuck with a couple back markers there and lost touch with the 28 car at that point. Was feeling a little bit miserable.

“But we were still the only ones that were going to the windows that we needed to.”

Then, the caution flag for Takuma Sato finding the Turn 2 wall occurred and now Dixon was in control. Even so, Dixon felt like they were going to outsmart the field whether the caution flew or not.

“Luckily that caution helped us a little bit. It probably didn’t really matter,” he said. “I don’t think it mattered if we had that or not. I think the race would have continued on fine otherwise anyway.”

That’s because he was saving enough fuel to still make a 3 stopper work. Everyone else was on the 4 stop strategy and then with the caution, they were now on the same cycle as Dixon. They all hit pit road on Lap 126.

Dixon was still saving fuel. O’Ward and Newgarden didn’t feel like they’d make it on one more stop so they cut the final half of the race in half.

O’Ward would pit on Lap 164 then with 54 to go. Dixon only pit one more time on Lap 196.

“Yeah, Scott Dixon decided to do a Dixon today,” O’Ward said. “Whenever they told me, He’s going to try to make it without stopping again, the guy’s going to do it for sure. He just does it. He’s just Scott Dixon, you know? I feel like that’s what he’s best known for.

“He knows how to do it better than anybody with a great combination that he has with his team and car and everything. It’s a bummer that we weren’t even close to kind of even race him.”

Dixon would beat O’Ward by 22.2256-seconds as just he and Malukas were the only three cars on the lead lap at the end.

He pit two less times in the 250 lap race than the others. With 3 stops on pit lane, O’Ward had 5.

As a result of that and Alex Palou’s seventh place finish, Dixon cut another 27 points off the deficit and comes to Portland -74 from the lead.

“Yeah, a win always feels good,” Dixon said. “To go back to back feels fantastic, on two very different circuits. Again, I think it’s a testament to what this team has been able to do, all four cars throughout this year.

“It’s been definitely a bit of a trying year for us I think. As I mentioned before, not getting the results that the team deserved.

“I think what is special is going into the last two races, it can only be a Ganassi driver, which is very cool. I know that makes Chip very proud, and the hundred-plus employees that work at that place, as well.”