Dixon wins, stays in hunt for IndyCar title

Pole-sitter Scott Dixon of New Zealand won the Indy Japan on Sunday to stay in contention for the IndyCar series championship with two races to go.

Dixon held off Will Power – who moved into the championship lead – to capture his second IndyCar win of the season.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to Team Target,” said Dixon, who also won the Honda Indy 200. “They gave me a great car with great pit stops and great fuel strategy.”

Power moved into first place in the standings with 542 points, 11 ahead of Dario Franchitti, who finished in eighth place after being penalized for hitting Ryan Briscoe’s car on the 26th lap.

Sprint Cup

Rain at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., forced NASCAR to postpone the opening race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

NASCAR will attempt to run the race today, beginning at 9 a.m.

Matt Kenseth will start from the pole. Six Chase drivers are starting in the top 10, with Kevin Harvick the lowest qualifying Chase driver at 30th.

NHRA

Matt Hagan backed up his record-setting run by beating points leader Mike Neff in the Funny Car finals for his first win of the season at the NHRA Nationals at Concord, N.C.

Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Kurt Johnson (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won.