Six months after the northeastern portion of the country was rocked by an 8.9 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that damaged not only the physical but the psyche, fans flooded Twin Ring Motegi to take in the spectacle of the Indy Japan: The Final.
The Indy Japan was Scott Dixon's from the start, which is just what the Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver needed to make a championship push as the IZOD IndyCar Series season winds down.
Dixon held off Penske Racing's Will Power -- the new championship front-runner and repeat Mario Andretti Road Trophy titlist -- to win the final race at the mountaintop motorsports retreat and remain a factor in the title chase. That race within a race turned on a lap 26 restart when Dario Franchitti, who carried a five-point leader over Power into the 63-lap race, swung to the right and made contact with the right-rear of the No. 6 Team Penske car driven by Ryan Briscoe entering Turn 1. Franchitti engaged reverse gear and continued, while Briscoe and Graham Rahal rejoined the fray after being restarted. Power's 11th top-five finish of the season bumped his point total to 542, which is 11 points ahead of Franchitti. Dixon is 59 points out of first heading into the final two races -- both on 1.5-mile ovals.
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