- Six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon was the actual winner of the 27-driver field, capturing his 54th career IndyCar triumph.
- Dixon did the feat in stellar fashion, rallying back after being involved in a five-car incident on the opening lap to take the checkered flag 85 laps later.
- Meanwhile, Josef Newgarden’s championship hopes literally went up in the air.
Saturday’s Gallagher Grand Prix IndyCar race—part of the NASCAR/IndyCar Crossover Weekend—on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield road course was one of those rare events where there should have been not one, but three different winners.
First, six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon was the actual winner of the 27-driver field, capturing his 54th career IndyCar triumph. Dixon did the feat in stellar fashion, rallying back after being involved in a five-car incident on the opening lap to take the checkered flag 85 laps later.
Meanwhile, Josef Newgarden’s championship hopes literally went up in the air when, in the same mishap that Dixon was involved in after several cars went four-wide, he made contact rolling into Turn 7 on the opening lap with the right front of Alex Palou, spun and wound up on top of Marcus Armstrong’s car and Dixon was also involved, meaning three Chip Ganassi Racing cars involved.
Also caught up in the mayhem was Romain Grosjean. Newgarden quickly dropped two laps off the lead lap to have repairs made to his car, eventually getting back on the lead lap, but the damage was done as he finished a disappointing 25th.
It was Dixon’s 319th consecutive IndyCar start, surpassing the prior record holder, Tony Kanaan, who made 318 consecutive starts before turning into a part-time driver last season.
Dixon has long been known as IndyCar’s “Ice Man” for his cool demeanor behind the wheel. Now, he’s also being dubbed IndyCar’s “Iron Man” for his consecutive starts streak. Dixon has also amassed 54 wins, 121 podium finishes, 179 top five finishes and has turned more than 43,000 laps.
There were two other drivers and the resulting storylines that also should not be denied in terms of notoriety and attention:
Graham Rahal drove arguably his best race in at least the last six or seven seasons. Rahal not only started from the pole (the first time he’s done so since 2017, which was also the same season of his last IndyCar win), but just barely finished second to Dixon by a margin of only .4779 of a second. However, that wasn’t the whole story: Rahal made up more than 2 ½ seconds on Dixon in the final 10 laps, and had the eventual race winner ran out of gas (which was on the border) or if there had been another lap or two, Rahal very likely may have caught and passed Dixon.
Alex Palou all but clinched his second IndyCar championship. The Spanish driver, who also won the title in 2021, finished seventh in Saturday’s race and increased his points lead to 101 points over Dixon, who moved into second place, while Josef Newgarden (who came into Saturday’s race 84 points behind Palou) dropped to third place, 105 points behind Palou. Newgarden finished a very disappointing 25th after being involved in the big multi-car wreck on the opening lap and was never able to recover.
Let’s go through some of the comments from the three principal finishers:
First, here’s Dixon:
“We weren’t sure even on the first run there (that he had a chance to rally for the win). I had a fantastic start, got up to eighth or ninth, then got t-boned in Turn 7. Huge credit to the team. It’s been a trying year for the team. Things could have rolled our way but they haven’t, but they never give up.”
Dixon won his first race of 2023, but even more important, earned a win for the 19th straight season.
“It was so fun driving my Honda today, getting the fuel mileage, cruising along and having the fantastic pace,” Dixon said. “It was pretty sketchy at the end, but we tried to put on a show for everyone.
“What a day to win on. We’re going to keep trying to win (race number) 320.”
Graham Rahal may have smiled more on Saturday than he did the entire month of May at Indianapolis.
Next Is Rahal:
“I thought all day we dominated. … We have nothing to be ashamed of. I’m not bummed, but I’m bummed. Even on one of those days where we do everything right, Lady Luck wasn’t quite on our side.”
As for his near-upset closing on Dixon in the final 10 laps, Rahal added, “When you follow like that, it really kills the front tires. So I knew I had to make quick work of him and it just hurt us a little bit to give him a lunge. I was on overtake on the second-to-last lap and he was too, and I just wasn’t gaining ground, I was holding even with him for some reason. I don’t know why but I just couldn’t make a lunge against him.
“I thought it was going to be a real good shot, but we have nothing to be ashamed of, going against the best of all-time, by far. I mean, 19 straight seasons (of Dixon earning at least one win). It’s ridiculous, just absolutely insane. We just have to keep our heads down and keep getting better.”
In a sense, Saturday’s runner-up showing was somewhat of a vindication for Rahal, who embarrassingly failed to qualify for this year’s Indianapolis 500 in late May. But when Stefan Wilson was injured in a crash and was unable to compete in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, Rahal took Wilson’s place and finished 22nd for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
Saturday’s runner-up finish could be the start of a resurgence for Rahal, and potentially could be the final thing to convince team owner Bobby Rahal to re-sign his son for 2024 and beyond (the younger Rahal’s current contract with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing expires at the end of this season).
Alex Palou solidified his near lock on the IndyCar points championship with another strong performance.
Last, But Not Least, Is Palou:
Palou has won four races this season (tied for the series lead with Newgarden). He did not have a ride capable of winning, yet still managed to finish seventh, extending an impressive streak where he has not finished a race worse than an eighth-place showing this season.
“Finishing the race today was important,” Palou said. “I’m ashamed we couldn’t get any better but obviously a good result for the team with Scott winning the race today and a good result for us in the championship.”
Just three races remain on the IndyCar schedule. If Palou can win either the next event (August 27 at Gateway near St. Louis) or the next-to-last race (Sept. 3 at Portland), he likely will come into the season finale at Laguna Seca on Sept. 10 having already clinched the title.
Saturday’s third-place finisher was Pato O’Ward.
“I’m super proud of our team,” O’Ward said. “This was the strategy that maximized what we had today. I’m super happy with what we made on those calls, and I think the pit (stops) were really good. I wouldn’t have changed anything. I was very happy with the car balance, but we have some catching up to do. … We walk away in ’23 with two podiums at IMS (finished runner-up in the Indy Grand Prix in early May). I’m happy with that.”
NOTES: Helio Castroneves will scale back after this season to compete only in the 2024 Indianapolis 500 for Meyer Shank Racing, as well as become part-owner of the team. He’s also expected to compete in some – if not the entire schedule – races in the IMSA WeatherTech Series next season. Still to be determined is Simon Pagenaud’s status with MSR. His contract also expires at the end of this season. Pagenaud has been sidelined for more than a month after suffering a concussion in a horrific crash during practice at Mid-Ohio in early July. For the second consecutive race, rookie Linus Lundqvist substituted for Pagenaud. Lundqvist finished 12th. … Racing legend Parnelli Jones turned 90 on Saturday.
Results, Updated Points Standings
Results Saturday of the Gallagher Grand Prix NTT IndyCar Series event on the 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (15) Scott Dixon, Honda, 85, Running
2. (1) Graham Rahal, Honda, 85, Running
3. (4) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 85, Running
4. (2) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 85, Running
5. (3) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 85, Running
6. (16) Will Power, Chevrolet, 85, Running
7. (8) Alex Palou, Honda, 85, Running
8. (10) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 85, Running
9. (13) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 85, Running
10. (17) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 85, Running
11. (19) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 85, Running
12. (12) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 85, Running
13. (11) Colton Herta, Honda, 85, Running
14. (14) Jack Harvey, Honda, 85, Running
15. (18) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 85, Running
16. (27) David Malukas, Honda, 85, Running
17. (24) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 85, Running
18. (6) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 84, Running
19. (5) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 84, Running
20. (21) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 84, Running
21. (22) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 84, Running
22. (23) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 84, Running
23. (20) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 84, Running
24. (7) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 83, Running
25. (25) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 83, Running
26. (26) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 79, Running
27. (9) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 68, Mechanical
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 111.647 mph
Time of Race: 1:51:24.7579
Margin of victory: 0.4779 of a second
Cautions: 1 for 6 laps
Lead changes: 8 among 4 drivers
Lap Leaders:
DeFrancesco, Devlin 1 – 8
Rahal, Graham 9 – 23
Lundgaard, Christian 24 – 26
Dixon, Scott 27 – 31
Rahal, Graham 32 – 47
Lundgaard, Christian 48 – 51
Dixon, Scott 52 – 58
Rahal, Graham 59 – 63
Dixon, Scott 64 – 85
NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings
Palou 539, Dixon 438, Newgarden 434, McLaughlin 395, O’Ward 388, Ericsson 377, Power 365, Lundgaard 330, Kirkwood 312, Rossi 306, Herta 302, Grosjean 253, Rosenqvist 246, Rahal 241, VeeKay 218, Ilott 216, Malukas 195, Armstrong 179, Castroneves 177, Ferrucci 170, Canapino 151, Harvey 146, DeFrancesco 145, Conor Daly 120, Robb 113, Pedersen 102, Simon Pagenaud 88, Hunter-Reay 86, Takuma Sato 65, Ed Carpenter 40, Lundqvist 23, Tony Kanaan 18, Marco Andretti 13, Tom Blomqvist 5, RC Enerson 5, Katherine Legge 5
Follow Autoweek contributor Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski.
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