IndyCar: Kiwi Scott Dixon avoids frightening crash at Pocono

Kiwi Scott Dixon has finished third in a dramatic IndyCar race at Pocono, Pennsylvania.

The race was brought to a halt after eight laps, when Robert Wickens and Ryan Hunter-Reay touched wheels, sending Wickens' car into the fence and spinning several times in mid-air, before landing against the inside retaining wall.

As the Canadian's car headed towards the wall, Dixon had to swerve to avoid it.

James Hinchcliffe then hit Wickens' car, as it came back onto the track.

Takuma Sato and Pietro Fittipaldi were also involved in the crash at the Pocono track in Long Road, Pennsylvania.

The race was stopped for two hours and safety crews took about 12 minutes to extricate Wickens from his damaged vehicle, and then clean the track and fix the badly damaged fence.

Once the race resumed, Dixon, who started 13th on the grid, began his fight towards the leaders, but he could only climb to third, as fellow championship contender Alexander Rossi won the 200-lap race.

It was Rossi's second win in a row and saw him close to within 29 points of table-topping Dixon, who is seeking his fifth championship.

There are three races left in the season.

Dixon was pleased to get on the podium on a wild day.

"It was very tough," Dixon said. "We tried to go off-strategy and then we got caught behind Marco [Andretti], who is really hard to pass.

"We did ok today on points, but obviously took a big hit with Rossi."

Earlier in the day, Dixon spoke about the crash that delayed the race for an extended period.

"It was right in front of me," said Dixon. "I just hope everyone is alright.

"Looking at some of the replays, Hunter-Reay and Wickens went into each other, and then into the fence, then you're trying to slow down as quick as possible, but in speedway configuration here, it's really hard to pull these cars up, really hard to move them abruptly without spinning out."

The 38-year-old was involved in a serious IndyCar crash at last year's Indianapolis 500, when his car collided with another, catapulted into a barrier and flipped several times.

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