Scott Dixon and Chip Ganassi Racing have delivered another strategy masterclass, winning the weekend’s chaotic IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix.
Marcus Armstrong secured his maiden IndyCar podium in third, having climbed forward from 20th on the grid.
Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson split the two Kiwis in second place.
“The team called it perfectly,” Dixon said. “We were on the right strategy. We won, man. How cool is that?
“It’s just always the variables. Trying to stay out of trouble, trying to keep your car on track. We had rain. It was all over the shop out there. You had no idea how the transitions were going to fall or even the strategy. So stoked for everyone on the team. That was cool.”
Scott McLaughlin crashed out from second on Lap 33. He lost two laps on the field while his Penske #3 was removed from the barriers.
Dixon’s victory gives him the championship lead by 18 points from teammate and reigning champion Alex Palou. The win is the 58th of his career and brings him to only nine behind AJ Foyt’s all-time record of 67.
“For sure; I think it always is,” Dixon said when asked if he’s focusing on tying Foyt’s record of seven series championships. “Until you’re out of it, you’re going to keep chasing it. It’s a team effort.”
The six-time champion and strategist Mike Hull improvised their tactics on the fly. Their decisive call came on Lap 56 of 100, when they boxed for the final time under caution. They banked on further yellow flags to make it to the chequered flag on fuel.
Two further incidents allowed them to stretch their fuel, and the Kiwi held on for a 0.8567-second victory over Ericsson on the nine-turn, 1.645-mile street circuit.
Forty-seven of the race’s 100 laps were under caution.
As it happened
The race’s first yellow came when Christian Lundgaard, Theo Pourchaire and Will Power ran three-wide, which ended with the Australian facing the wrong way in the tyres and blocking a line of traffic.
All cars could continue, with Power needing a rear-wing change and Felix Rosenqvist incurring a puncture in the melee.
Palou pressured Herta for the lead of the Lap 4 restart, but his tyres quickly faded, and he tumbled to seventh before pitting on Lap 12 for fresh alternates.
At the same point, Santino Ferrucci made contact with the rear of Helio Castroneves entering Turn 5, with the four-time Indy 500 sent into a spin. A trailing Kyffin Simpson also suffered a broken front wing in the incident.
McLaughlin caused the third caution, spinning out of second at Turn 1 on Lap 33. His car was left buried in the tyres, and he lost two laps while it was retrieved.
Herta pitted from the lead on Lap 35, and Christian Lundgaard hit the front ahead of Palou, Augustin Canapino, and a resurgent Power.
A rain shower then dramatically shook things up, with the majority of the field stopping for wet weather tyres. However, Lundgaard, Kyle Kirkwood, and Dixon remained out on slicks, holding track position as the weather quickly passed and the circuit dried.
Kirkwood took the lead off Lundgaard on the Lap 41 restart, but, once again, green flag running was limited, with Power making contact with Romain Grosjean and then Rinus VeeKay.
VeeKay was sent into a spin at Turn 3, bringing out the yellows, while Power was sent to the rear of the field.
The Safety Car interruption allowed those on wets to switch back to slicks.
The Lap 46 restart was short-lived, too. Herta made a dive on Palou at Turn 5 but needed to use the runoff after locking up. He lost a lap while re-firing his car.
Lundgaard and Grosjean collided on the restart of Lap 53, with the Swedish driver charging into the corner and making contact with the Frenchman, blocking the track in front of Armstrong and Linus Lundqvist.
Lundgaard copped a drive-through penalty as a result.
Dixon pitted under this yellow, which proved decisive when the next yellows came out on lap 64.
The Kiwi led the field to green on Lap 70, ahead of Armstrong.
Remarkably, this, too, was short-lived, with Newgarden losing the rear of his car at Turn 3. The Indy 500 winner blocked Palou, but both could continue.
Dixon pulled to a 3.3-second lead over his teammate over the laps following the Lap 74 restart but was forced to conserve fuel.
Armstrong ate into his advantage in the final 20 laps and pulled clear of third-placed Kirkwood in doing so.
Newgaren clipped the wall on lap 82 and was back in the pit lane for repairs as a result.
Ericsson passed Kirkwood for third on Lap 86 and began hunting down the two Kiwis, with Armstrong now within two seconds of the lead.
Once Ericsson caught up, it turned into a three-car battle for the victory with six laps remaining. He would take second off Armstrong with four laps remaining, but the battle allowed Dixon to pull 2.5 seconds clear.
He would hold the advantage for the victory, with Ericsson finishing 0.8587 seconds in arrears and Armstrong dropping four seconds behind in third.
Kirkwood was fourth, ahead of Rossi, Power, Pato O’Ward, Rosenqvist, Ferrucci and Pourchaire, who completed the top ten.
McLaughlin was classified 20th, one lap behind the leaders.
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