Australia’s Will Power has returned to the top of the IndyCar championship standings with a sixth-place finish at Mid-Ohio on Sunday.

New Zealand driver Scott Dixon won the 90-lap race, powering to the chequered flag from last on the 22-car field for his sixth victory at the twisty road course in eight years.

“Truthfully, I didn’t think it was possible,” Dixon said.

Polesitter Sebastien Bourdais was a distant second, with James Hinchcliffe third, rookie Carlos Munoz fourth and Graham Rahal fifth.

Power entered round 15 of the series 13 points behind Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves in the championship, but will go into the next event at Milwaukee with a four-point buffer.

Castroneves finished a lowly 19th after being forced to pit before the race even started due to a stuck throttle. He eventually joined the pack five laps down.

“There was just a bit of a mistake in our fuel mapping,” the Brazilian said.

“It was a tough race, knowing that I was on a lap by myself the entire time.

“We will just to rebound from this. We might have been knocked down but we will get back up. On to Milwaukee.”

The Milwaukee IndyFest on August 17 is the first of three consecutive weekends of competition to close the season, with the finale in Fontana, California, carrying double points.

For the past eight years, the championship has been decided in the final round.

Since joining the IndyCar series in 2008, Power has claimed 23 race wins but is yet to win a title. He’s finished runner-up overall three times – in 2010, 2011 and 2012.