NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Scott Dixon is ready to help Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Alex Palou in his quest to win his third IndyCar title in Sunday’s season finale at Nashville Superspeedway.

But Dixon, a six-time series champion who has been involved in many title fights, believes his help will not be needed as Palou aims to finish ahead of Team Penske’s Will Power in the championship standings.

“I think it’s kind of over, man,” Dixon said when asked if he’d be developing much championship strategy with Palou. “I think Power had his miracle in Milwaukee, man. Two miracles in a row is going to be pretty tough to take.”

Palou will come to Nashville with a 33-point lead over Power after avoiding a potential disaster at the September 1 race at the Milwaukee Mile. He finished the race 29 laps down in 19^th due to a battery failure in his Dallara Honda No. 10 during the formation laps.

The season finale will feature a championship match between Alex Palou and Will Power.

Power, who finished second in the opening race of a weekend doubleheader in Milwaukee the day before, looked poised to seize his chance and potentially take the championship lead, but the Team Penske driver spun on a mid-race restart and finished 10th.^th after 64 laps. Although Palou lost 21 points of his lead in two races in Milwaukee, the gap remained large enough to bring Power into the danger zone.

Palou has a good chance of securing his second consecutive championship and his third in four seasons if he finishes at least ninth in Nashville, regardless of Power’s result.

Aside from finishing outside the top five in three of 16 races this year, Palou will also be able to count on the support of Dixon and three other Ganassi teammates who could give up their positions in the battle for the championship.

The leader of the table missed the first 28 laps, but still managed to finish in 19th place.

But Dixon considers this scenario unlikely.

“It was an open door with the problem Alex had in Milwaukee, and (Power) didn’t suggest it,” Dixon said. “If you’re in a situation where you can help, you’re going to. It’s too hard to plan something like that now, man. If you plan it and go into it with a fixed mindset, you’re just going to screw it up.”

There are some positives for Power. Team Penske has been the best oval track team in IndyCar this season, winning five of six races. Power will have the help of his Penske teammates Scott McLaughlin and Newgarden to push Palou further ahead at the finish.

But Newgarden, who won the IndyCar championship in 2017 and 2019, acknowledges it will be a tall order. Aside from the 2014-19 era when the season finale counted double points, the biggest deficit a champion has overcome in the final race was by Ryan Hunter-Reay, who overcame a 17-point deficit to beat Power for the 2012 championship.

“Alex is in a dominant position,” Newgarden said. “If you have to choose between the two, I think you choose the point lead he has any day of the week. His lead is big enough to be protected.”

“Of course, anything can happen. I think Will has a great chance to still win the championship. But the odds are not good. Alex has the championship in his hands at the moment. We as a team have to do our best. If we are in a position to help Will win the championship, we will try to do that. But we just have to drive our race and see what happens.”

Does that mean giving up a win if it helps Power? Newgarden says he would “of course” give up the lead to help Penske win its second title in the last three years.

“You can’t try to orchestrate anything,” he said. “You just have to go through your weekend and try to do everything as normal. You just try to be as fast as you can, push each other, qualify well, be up front and then when we’re in position and things are going in our favor, we’ll try to close the deal.”

“If we get to the end of the road here and it looks like Will can win the championship and I need to clear the way for him to do it, then obviously I’m going to do it for the team. I’ve had teammates that have supported me in championship runs and for our team, that’s definitely what you’re going to do. They’re going to try to win the championship as a team. So we’ll just have to wait and see if we’re in that position. If we’re in that position, we’ll work together as a group to get the deal done. If I can contribute the best, if they need me to help them win it, then I’m going to help the team win.”

The agreement also strengthens the collaboration between Bridgestone and IndyCar in developing sustainable innovations in racing