Kiwi Scott Dixon has seen his hopes of a seventh Indycar crown dashed, despite finishing third at the Grand Prix of Portland.
With back-to-back wins at Indianapolois and Madison, Illinois, Dixon was making a late run for the title he has won six previous times, most recently in 2020, but needed a miracle to overhaul teammate and runaway leader Alex Palou over the final two races of the season.
Spaniard Palou only needed a podium finish at Portland to clinch the championship, but put the exclamation point on his achievement, with a comfortable victory from fifth on the starting grid. Dixon's placing was enough to seal second for the season.
Dixon pressed his teammate for much of the race, but was squeezed out of second by Swede Felix Rosenqvist, as the field went under yellow flag, and reacted angrily - on the track and off it.
"Indycar keep doing this," he lamented. "I think they think they're trying to help people, but it actually hurts and affects the outcome of the race.
"It would have been only one sport for us, but maybe it would have given us an opportunity at the end of the race. I don't know if we had enough speed for Alex - he was definitely fast."
Since taking the title four years ago, Dixon has finished fourth, third and now second, as he tries to add to his record championship haul.
"It was pretty blah, to be honest," he said, "We had the issue at Long Beach, and there were some races where we definitely didn't capitalise or maybe we didn't do the right strategy, like at Toronto.
"You can always pick a season to pieces, but all in all, you have to look at the big picture. To secure one-two in the championship is tough to do and this competition is really tough to do.
"For us to rebound the way we did is a testament to everything the team do."
Fellow Kiwi Scott McLaughlin finished ninth, after winning this event last year and qualifying second fastest, while Marcus Armstrong took another step towards sealing rookie honours, with 19th.
The Indycar championship winds up at Monterey, California, next week.