LONG BEACH, Calif. — Scott Dixon got his 57th career win on Sunday at Long Beach, edging closer to A.J. Foyt's record on IndyCar's all-time win list.
Foyt holds the record for the most wins in IndyCar with 67 victories.
Dixon's win is his second at one of the most prestigious street course races in the United States, and it also gave Chip Ganassi Racing a clean sweep of the weekend. Ganassi's sports car team of Renger van der Zande and Sebastian Bourdais won the IMSA race on Saturday.
Ganassi now has back-to-back wins in IndyCar, with reigning series champion Alex Palou winning the exhibition race last month in California.
Dixon used a skillful fuel-saving strategy and was chased over the final 20 laps by Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden, who seemed to have the speed to catch Dixon for the win. However, the race dynamics changed when Colton Herta ran into the back of Newgarden as they slowed down through the hairpin with lapped traffic ahead.
This knocked Newgarden out of the way as both Herta and Alex Palou passed him.
“He just stopped in the middle of the corner,” Herta complained about Newgarden, who finished 0.9798 seconds behind Dixon for Andretti Global.
After the race, Newgarden, who fell to fourth, talked with Herta on pit road. The drivers had different opinions, with Newgarden mainly upset that Herta did not receive a penalty.
“I’m not sure how lifting someone two feet in the air isn’t a penalty,” said Newgarden, who wasn’t sure he’d have been able to catch Dixon, anyway.
While Dixon celebrated, his competitors were surprised at how he managed to have enough fuel not only to finish the race, but also to perform burnouts and drive the car to victory lane.
“Josef was coming strong, but Chip came on (the radio) and said ‘Just go for it, man,’” Dixon said.
Ganassi revealed that Dixon had been preserving fuel for nearly 50 of the 85 laps and he “absolutely” did not think Dixon was going to make it. “I said he was going to run out on the last lap.”
Dixon dedicated the win to Sir Colin Giltrap, a New Zealand motorsport supporter who passed away on Wednesday and played a key role in Dixon’s career, as well as in the careers of many other top New Zealand racing drivers.
Palou finished third, making it a complete victory for Honda in a race sponsored by its Acura brand. Newgarden, finishing fourth, was the highest-placed Chevrolet driver.
Felix Rosenqvist started on the pole — the first time in IndyCar for Meyer Shank Racing — but Will Power on alternate tires quickly overtook Rosenqvist through the first turn. Rosenqvist struggled from there as competitors started passing the pole-sitter, and he dropped to sixth by the eighth lap.
He ultimately finished ninth.
The race took a turn when rookie Christian Rasmussen spun and crashed hard into the wall. Jack Harvey's car was damaged as he couldn’t avoid colliding with Rasmussen.
The subsequent caution led Power to make a pit stop, with Dixon following suit. This decision allowed Newgarden to take the lead on the 18th lap, and both Dixon and Power were focused on conserving fuel for the rest of the race. Power restarted in 12th place, but was eventually overtaken by Dixon, who then navigated his way through the field.
Power came in sixth place, just after Marcus Ericsson, achieving his best result so far with his new Andretti team.
The race was strange for Arrow McLaren from the beginning, as Pato O’Ward collided with teammate Alexander Rossi. O’Ward got a drive-thru penalty for the incident, while Rossi had to pit to fix his car and fell to the back of the pack.
O’Ward apologized for the incident with Rossi on his radio, accepting complete fault for the collision.
Despite the setback, Rossi managed to finish 10th, one position ahead of F2 champion Theo Pourchaire, who stepped in for injured McLaren driver David Malukas. Pourchaire had not previously driven an Indy car before Friday’s first practice session.
O’Ward ended up in 16th place in what has become his semi home race. The Mexican driver has large numbers of fans who show up at Long Beach with the Mexican flag and sombreros. The queue for his autograph session overwhelms that of the rest of the drivers.
UP NEXT
The next IndyCar race will take place next Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. Scott McLaughlin is the current race champion. After an almost five-week break, IndyCar is now entering a stretch of seven out of the next eight weekends with races.
