Scott Dixon's quest for a seventh IndyCar series title will have to wait another year after a poor result in the latest round in California ended his championship aspirations.
The Kiwi finished 11th at the famed Laguna Seca circuit after a messy race that included a crash with two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato.
Despite holding firm in the top three through the first 20-laps, Dixon faltered late in his first stint as his tyres hit a cliff and dropped out of the top ten for the remainder of the race.
Dixon, who has won the championship twice in the last four years is now 72 points behind teammate and series leader Alex Palou with one round remaining at Long Beach next weekend.
Palou's finished second on Monday, four seconds behind American youngster Colten Herta to extend his points advantage to 35 points of Mexican Pato O'Ward with Josef Newgarden a further 13 points back.
O'Ward and Newgarden will need to win at Long Beach and hope Polau fails to finish to have a realistic chance of running down the Spaniard.
Dixon remains fourth, 15 points ahead of teammate Marcus Ericsson and he could finish as high as second in the title race with victory and misfortune for hose around him next weekend.
Fellow Kiwi Scott McLaughlin finished 12th and remains 13th in the standings, although his lead in the rookie race has been cut to 20 points after Frenchman Romain Grosjean scored the final spot on the podium.
