Scott Dixon caught the checkered flag last Saturday to take the Indy Japan 300, giving him a two-place-ranking jump in the championship event with one event remaining.

Dixon, who is now in first place, outran teammate Dario Franchitti by 1.4 seconds to catch his fifth IndyCar race of the year. The two were followed by Graham Rahal, Oriol Servia, Mario Moraes, and Danica Patrick.   

Dixon earned 53 points, which is the maximum number available for any IndyCar race. He won 50 points for finishing first, one point for taking the pole, and the remaining two points were for taking the most laps in the race.

For this year, Dixon has already scored 570 points, which is five more than Franchitti. Ryan Briscoe, who started the day with the most points, hit the wall midway through the race and the vehicle needed extensive repairs.

Briscoe eventually finished at number 18, bringing him to third place in the total points rankings for the event.

The IndyCar championship will be decided on October 10 at Miami.