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Scott Dixon says he was surprised that Team Penske did not tell Scott McLaughlin to let series leader Will Power win the Portland IndyCar race.
Power extended his margin to 20 points with just one race to go this season by finishing in second place, but it would have been 30 had he been first to the chequered flag.
Dixon is now equal second in the standings having followed the Australian across the finish line at just four tenths in arrears, but thought Penske would have made his life harder at Laguna Seca next weekend.
“I think I called it with about 10 laps to go,” said the Chip Ganassi Racing driver.
“I’m like, ‘I’m surprised they haven’t swapped yet.’”
McLaughlin did keep himself in the hunt for the title by scoring maximum points given he qualified on pole position and led more laps than anyone else.
However, he is the last mathematical chance at 41 points behind Power, with only 54 still left on the table.
The 2014 IndyCar champion now needs to finish third at Laguna Seca to guarantee himself a second crown, whereas the target would have been seventh if he had the extra 10 points for winning at Portland.
Dixon would later add that he thought telling McLaughlin to give up the place “would have been a no-brainer.”
Power did close to less than a second behind the #3 Chevrolet with five laps remaining at Portland, but McLaughlin had more push-to-pass left and managed the gap to the finish.
The Australian, who had the other New Zealander’s car getting larger in his mirrors, said he had asked about team orders.
“I get it from the standpoint that Scott’s [McLaughlin] in,” said Power.
“I’ve been there and you don’t want to give up a win.
“Obviously 10 points, 11 points would make a big difference; you wouldn’t be having to finish third, you’d be having to finish eighth or something.
“I was on the radio asking for it,” he added.
Power, who had in fact already officially led two laps and hence already picked up that bonus point, concluded, “Eleven points be great.
“I think we’d go in there pretty confident that we could get it done; 20, It’s still a big fight.”
As for McLaughlin, he said he was never given any such instruction.
“No; they said that they would… At the end of the day, it was completely circumstantial,” he explained.
“You know, it’s pretty obvious what position you’re in, if you do need to give up, and I told Will before the race that I would fight him cleanly, and I think that’s all he expected.
“So, I didn’t know he was asking for team orders or the switch or whatever, but I can’t control that.
“I just drove my race and I’m a team player, I’ll do whatever I need to do, but for me, I think the best thing we could do was win the race, either car, so that’s exactly what happened.”
Asked if it would have been a tough call to take, McLaughlin responded, “Not really.
“You know, everyone knew that I would have been the true winner, so…”
Practice at Laguna Seca starts this Friday (local time), with Practice 2, Qualifying, and the Race itself live and ad-free on Stan Sport.
