Scott Dixon sees off teammate Felix Rosenqvist in Mid-Ohio battle

Scott Dixon prevailed by .0934s after a fierce duel with rookie Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Felix Rosenqvist to take an unsurmountable sixth win in the Honda 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The win came following a frantic final ten laps that saw Rosenqvist erase Dixon's seven-second lead while fighting through lapped traffic.

Dixon dominated the final two-thirds of the race while utilizing a two-stop strategy. He first rose to the fore on Lap 46 after pole-sitter Will Power and Josef Newgarden led the bulk of the opening laps with Rosenqvist leading a few under the exchange of pitstops.

Dixon was running second when he stopped for the first time on Lap 29 while running second behind Power, who also pitted.

That moved the three-stop strategy opting Newgarden to the front while Dixon and Power resumed in 10th and 11th. Within five laps Dixon muscled past Power for tenth which put him in front of everyone who had already stopped.

Newgarden led 11 laps before surrendering the lead over to Rosenqvist on Lap 40 before he too stopped on Lap 45 – moving Dixon back to the point.

Dixon had 12.5 seconds built up on Power while Rosenqvist came back out I third. Power soon became an easy target for the Swedish rookie having fresher tyres to his disposal That allowed him to wrestle the runner up spot from Power on Lap 54.

He took over the lead five laps later when Dixon ducked onto pit road for scuffed reds with Power opting for his final stop two laps later.

Rosenqvist stopped for the final time on Lap 66 and opted for a fresh set of blacks for the last run to the checkered flag. He returned to the track nine seconds in arrears to Dixon and two seconds ahead of third place Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Much like his battle with Power, Rosenqvist used his fresher tyres to gouge into his teammate's lead as Dixon's red tyres wore off. He then faced the challenge of lapped traffic and a lack of push to pass slowed his progress.

Dixon's pace slowed as his reds gave up grip and the gap closed down to two seconds with six laps to go. He had a bit of a cushion as the lapped cars of Marco Andretti, Takuma Sato, Max Chilton and Matheus Leist separated him from Rosenqvist.

Rosenqvist worked around Leist on lap 86 before dispatching Chilton as Sato bowed out of the fight, which just left Andretti between the leaders.

Andretti was easy prey for Rosenqvist and he homed in on Dixon at the white flag. He made his first move entering Keyhole section of the track but lost speed to avoid ramming into Dixon. That mirrored drama behind them as Josef Newgarden spun off into a sand trap while trying to overtake Hunter-Reay for third.

The scuffle between the Ganassi pair gave Dixon a little breathing room that soon disappeared as Rosenqvist closed back in.

He made one last attempt coming off the final turn but came up .0934s short at the line.

Dixon relished the battle in victory lane but felt happy to come out on top after the strategy-driven win.

"I feel a little bit bad for [teammate] Felix [Rosenqvist], we had to put some moves on him for sure during the last few laps," he said. "I had nothing else I could do. If I wasn't his teammate, I think he'd had me off! Felix is going to have a ton of wins.

"We went too aggressive running a second set of [softer, alternate Firestone] 'Reds', but they held up at the end.  Huge credit to the PNC team and Honda.  They did a phenomenal job strategy-wise and making the car better for the race.  This really helps our run for the championship, so just really proud we got it done today."

The runner-up finish gives Rosenqvist his first IndyCar podium in his 12th start Hunter-Reay held onto third.

Newgarden's spin elevated Will Power to fourth while championship rival Alexander Rossi slashed the points lead down to 23 heading into Pocono.

Simon Pagenaud ended up sixth ahead of Spencer Pigot in seventh. Rookie Colton Herta ended up eighth ahead 2015 Mid-Ohio winner Graham Rahal in ninth while part-timer Jack Harvey rounded out the top ten.

Newgarden couldn't get refired after his last lap mishap dropped him to 14th.