Chip Ganassi Racing frontman Scott Dixon says he can't continue being put in "weird situations" in his quest for a record-equalling seventh IndyCar title. Despite having pace to burn in practice, Dixon uncharacteristically bombed out of the first group stage in qualifying for the second-to-last race of the year in Portland. 'The Iceman' then put in a clutch performance, recovering from a lowly 16th starting spot to finish third behind Team Penske duo Scott McLaughlin and Will Power. Stan Sport is the only place to watch the 2022 IndyCar Series. Continues September 11-12 with the finale in Monterey. All the action streaming ad-free, live and on demandIt means Dixon goes into the final race of the season 20 points in arrears of Power and equal in second place with Josef Newgarden. Although he was happy to come away with third place at Portland, the six-time series winner bemoaned the side's lacklustre showing in qualifying and the "most improved" tag. "Could have, should have, would have," said Dixon, who has a chance to equal AJ Foy for seven IndyCar titles. LIVE UPDATES: US Open day nine, Nick Kyrgios v Karen KhachanovREAD MORE: Ange's Celtic cop 'cruel' Champions League lessonREAD MORE: 'Panicked' Gallen 'bitten off more than he can chew'"It's one of those things. Proud of the team, I think they've done a great job, but we keep putting ourselves in these weird situations. "The car was fantastic in Q1 out the box. I didn't expect too much of a change and thought we would have converted easy and didn't even make it. "We have to stop doing these most improved days, for sure, it's not that much fun," he added. "You know, still in it, that's all that we can hope for. "Like series leader Power, Dixon has enjoyed a rich vein of consistency throughout 2022. The Kiwi has finished inside the top 10 in all but one race this year. The only blemish on his books remains 21st in the Indianapolis 500, which he led for the lion's share only to cop a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The Portland podium was his fourth of the season, which includes two wins in Toronto and Nashville. Dixon looked an unlikely candidate for a podium finish in the recent affair, only for fourth and fifth placed Newgarden and Alexander Rossi to get into each other on the last race restart. Then, Pato O'Ward was deemed to have blocked Dixon, gifting him third after officials told the Mexican to cede the position. "It was interesting," said Dixon. "I think when I saw Josef break I was, like, 'Wow, I'm not sure if he is going to make the corner'. "He did all that he could to make the corner, but put him at a weird angle, and that, obviously, offset him and Rossi because Rossi had a great run on him out of 12 into turn one. Then, got a great exit. "I think Will and Pato got into it as well, and I got a run on Pato, and he put a pretty big block on, and a lap later Indy called that, and I was able to get past, which thankfully I think the front three we pulled a 10-second gap on the next pack where we pulled away really quickly. "It was a great restart. Something that definitely helped us on the points side, and we'll take what we can. "The 2022 season comes to a close at Laguna Seca on September 12. Coverage of the season-finale begins on Stan Sport at 5am. For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!.