Dixon focused on road ahead

Dixon racing hard to catch Castroneves who is trying to stroke it to the title with consistent finishes

Scott Dixon won his first two IZOD IndyCar Series titles five years apart.

It's been five years since he won the title in 2008, but the Target Chip Ganassi driver is focused on the final five races of 2013, not history.

Leaving Mid-Ohio with a seventh-place finish, Dixon trails Helio Castroneves by 31 points in the championship. There are five races left, starting with the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma on Aug. 25 – plenty of opportunities to overtake the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner.

"The swing can happen," Dixon said. "We were 92 points out (entering the July 7 race at Pocono), and now we're only 31. It really shows the never-give-up attitude of the team."

Ryan Hunter-Reay, who earned his first series title last year in the final race by a scant three points, is 65 points behind Castroneves. Andretti Autosport teammate Marco Andretti is fourth (76 points back). There are 20 drivers mathematically eligible for the championship entering the 85-lap race on the 2.385-mile, 12-turn Sonoma road course.

Dixon, who won at the track in 2007 and was runner-up in 2011, has won three of the past four races as Chip Ganassi Racing is on a four-race winning streak (Charlie Kimball earned his first series victory at Mid-Ohio). He's scored the most points of any driver on road/street courses, which comprise four of the final five events.

"We had a bit of an upset at Mid-Ohio, where it didn't go our way, but we've got to bounce back and dig deep and try to get some good results for the last five," Dixon said.