Dixon hits out at Castroneves after Mid-Ohio IndyCar collision

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver and five-time Mid-Ohio winner had been one of the practice pacesetters, but only qualified 11th and then clashed with Castroneves on the 15th lap of the 90.

The contact occurred during the first round of pitstops, when Dixon was cut off by the Penske driver at Turn 2 as Castroneves rejoined the race.

With damaged suspension, Dixon retired just before one-third distance, and drops from fourth in the standings and 83 points behind Simon Pagenaud to fifth and 127 shy of the Mid-Ohio winner.

"Helio was coming out of the pits and we were trying to go off sequence," Dixon explained.

"He was off pace and we caught him on the exit of Turn 1.

"I got alongside him and he kept edging me over until I just had nowhere to go.

"I braked when I was alongside him and then he just turned in.

"Had we had a little more room I think we could have gotten through there just fine.

"It was definitely an aggressive move but I should have known better trying that with Helio.

"It usually ends like this with him."

Castroneves ultimately finished 15th and remains third in the championship, but is now 111 points behind his Penske team-mate.

"Unfortunately, I don't understand yet what happened with [Dixon] in Turn 2," Castroneves said.

"Obviously, I went to move to the inside. He was on the push-to-pass. I was on the push-to-pass.

"Unfortunately, I felt a big hit on the back. I didn't move anything.

"It is a shame. I'm not sure what happened. I have to ask him what happened.

"We stayed out but the sidepod was a little bit off and the rear of the car was moving a lot, especially in the high-speed section.

"It looks like some of my competitors had a bad day except for Will [Power] and Pagenaud - great job for them.

"They are probably on their way to a good battle for the championship, but we will keep focused."

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