Kiwi Scott Dixon has climbed to second on Indycar standings, after finishing second in the latest round at Mid-Ohio - but lost further ground to championship leader Alex Palou.
Chasing a record-equalling seventh Indycar crown, Dixon has struggled to break into the top three, since his third placing at the season-opening race at St Petersburg.
At Mid-Ohio, he led briefly on the 29th lap of 80 laps, but ultimately finished five seconds behind Palou, who took his third consecutive chequered flag to stretch his championship lead to 110 points.
The performance - plus misfortune to his nearest rivals - was enough to edge Dixon past Marcus Ericsson, Josef Newgarden and Pato O'Ward.
Ericsson was forced out of the race early, after colliding with Swede Felix Rosenquist on the opening lap, while Newgarden and O'Ward finished 12th and eighth respectively.
Kiwi Scott McLaughlin also improved his overall standing with fifth.
"Second place is great, but unfortunately the man we're chasing ended up first," lamented Dixon. "Congrats to Alex and the 10-car crew, they're doing a hell of job this year.
"Anything's possible - you're never out of it, until you're out of it. We'll keep trying as hard as possible.
"We tied for a championship in 2015 with Montoya, when we thought we were possibly out of it.
That's what's fun about the Indycar series and all the competition, but they're doing a hell of a job right now."
Dixon was the last driver to reel off three straight Indycar victories to open the 2020 season. He also managed that feat in 2013, while Simon Pagenaud repeated it in 2016 - on all three occasions, those drivers enjoyed overall championship success.
Next stop for the Indycar series is Toronto on July 16.
