If you want to see what makes Scott Dixon (Ganassi-Honda) one of the great Indycar drivers of all time, go back and watch the Toronto race restart on lap 33. Dixon was second behind Penske-Chevy’s Josef Newgarden. The weather was hot and the track was slippery. Newgarden accelerated too soon and the car drifted right into the concrete sidewall. To a normal viewer, this looked like a gift to Dixon. But once you know the situation, Dixon’s skill can be better appreciated.

After the first pit stop at lap 23, Dixon was breathing down Newgarden’s neck. Newgarden knew he had to get a good jump in order to outrun Dixon down the start-finish straight into the first turn. He jumped a little too soon, hit the wall, and fell back to 13th.

Once Dixon passed Newgarden and took the lead, there was not much question as to who would win the race. And now there is less question as to who will win the Driver’s Championship and which manufacturer will win the Manufacturer’s Championship.

Dixon now has a 62-point lead over Josef Newgarden with five races left. That’s almost a two-race lead. The last race is double points, but unless Newgarden wins a couple more races and Dixon starts to have some really bad races (like Iowa, where he finished 12th), that kind of lead will be tough to overcome.

On the manufacturer side, things are much tougher for Chevy. With Honda finishing first and third (Schmidt-Honda driver and Ontario-native Robert Wickens) and Chevy cars finishing second (Penske-Chevy driver Simon Pagenaud) and fifth (Carlin-Chevy driver Charlie Kimball), Chevy lost more points to Honda.

The way I figure it, Chevy would need to finish 1-through-5 in four races, and 1-through-6 in the fifth to pass Honda for the manufacturer trophy.

The next race is the Honda Family picnic at Mid-Ohio July 29. Oh, by the way, Scott Dixon has won that race Five times. Newgarden won it last year. Should be an interesting watch.