Scott Dixon blames Josef Newgarden for forcing "unfortunate" incident at IndyCar Portland race

Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon has blamed Josef Newgarden (two-time champion) for their lap 84 incident in last week's IndyCar Grand Prix of Portland. Dixon slammed his car into the back of Newgarden's #2 Penske and spun around the latter.

On lap 84, Scott Dixon was pushing to the max on the straight when Josef Newgarden came out of the pits ahead of him on colder tires. Going into Turn 2, Dixon came in too hot and eventually just wasn't able to avoid contact with Newgarden.

In line with the incident, the six-time IndyCar champion didn't think he was to blame for it. If anything, he felt that the Penske driver was at fault. Via a post-race interaction with Frontstretch Open Wheel, Dixon shared his perspective on the incident.

"Yeah, it just clipped him. You know, don't wanna see that with anybody, but I think he was more obsessed with blocking the inside that he didn't accelerate. So, the crossover was nothing that I expected. I figured everybody would've tracked out to the outside, but he just stayed to the left, so, unfortunate that I clipped him. Yeah, kind of ruined both of those," said Dixon [0:37 onwards].

Following the collision, Josef Newgaren tumbled down the order to end his 110-lap outing way down in P24. Scott Dixon, on his end, also did not fare well, as he ended up outside the top 10 in P11.

Interestingly, the IndyCar Grand Prix of Portland was won by Josef Newgarden's Penske teammate and two-time IndyCar champion Will Power.

Scott Dixon's take on Josef Newgarden's teammate's impressive win

NTT INDYCAR Series BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland - Source: Getty

Scott Dixon and Will Power are the senior pros on the modern grid of America's highest class of open-wheel racing. Dixon has been competing in the sport since 2001, whereas the 44-year-old Power has been going at it since 2008.

While Dixon had an "unfortunate" incident with Will Power's teammate, Josef Newgarden, in the Portland race, he showered praise on Power for his impressive outing in the event.

Reflecting on Power's victory, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver added the following via the same interview:

"Yeah, I didn't see much of him. Congrats to him. I know this track's been really good for him uh, and then obviously, big congrats to Palou for the Championship." [1:06 onwards].

The 2025 IndyCar season is 15 rounds down, and there are only two Grand Prix events remaining on the race calendar. Alex Palou has already claimed the drivers' championship, and thus, from the point of view of Dixon, the remaining events are going to be about doing the best job possible.

He is currently in third place in the driver's championship, having amassed 411 points. Second-placed Pato O'Ward is on 475 points.