IndyCar title rivals feel Simon Pagenaud is due a 'bad day'

Penske driver Pagenaud started the season with a pair of second-place finishes and then three wins, and while he has finished three of the last five races outside of the top 10, he still leads by 73 points over Iowa winner Josef Newgarden.

Power and Dixon finished second and third at Iowa, with Pagenaud fourth, and are 75 and 88 points behind the Frenchman respectively.

"You're bound to have a bad day, you're going to," Power, who missed the season opener due to illness, said.

"It's just what the other guys do on that day when you do have a bad day.

"Hopefully it's a day we're winning when he's having a bad day, you knock off a lot of points.

"The last race can swing 70 points - he has a bad race, a DNF, an engine problem or something.

"[We've] got to keep chipping away each week."

Dixon won his fourth title at 2015's final hurdle, utilising double points to come from third and beat Juan Pablo Montoya on a countback, after Montoya and team-mate Power tangled.

Dixon added: "I don't want to wish somebody bad luck, but he's probably going to have to have some.

"He's doing a great job. On days when they're not at their best, they're still getting good points.

"They're going to have to work for it, that's what it comes down to.

"A lot of championships, I find that towards the end it becomes a real race for the points."

Six races remain this season, with double points - 100 for a win - up for grabs in the Sonoma finale.

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