But the Scot’s...

But the Scot’s advantage was slashed from 47 to 34 points with only six rounds remaining, as closest rival Scott Dixon won his second race in a row. The Kiwi pole-sitter held off Franchitti and Danica Patrick to cross the line a couple of seconds ahead in an event that had been postponed from Saturday eve?ning because of rain in Tennessee.

As the victor in the traditional home of country music, Dixon was awarded with a special hand-painted Gibson guitar for his efforts – and he knows he must keep bagging the trophies if he’s to overhaul the championship leader. “Dario has been very consistent, and he’s going to be tough to beat,” he admitted.

“I’ve got nothing to lose now, so I need to go all out to pick up as many wins as possible. Even so, if he keeps coming second, it’s going to take until the end of the season to catch him.” Franchitti agreed: “It’s now looking more and more like a two-horse race for the championship. The problem is, there are probably six or seven cars cap?able of winning each race.”