Scott Dixon scored his first Verizon IndyCar Series win of the 2017 season Sunday at Road America. Photo by Chris Jones
One outstanding prize eluding Scott Dixon in his illustrious Indy car career was a win at Road America’s picturesque and lightning-fast permanent road course. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver checked that box on Sunday, winning the KOHLER Grand Prix.
Dixon crossed the finish line 0.5779 of a second ahead of Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden to earn the 41st win of his career. It moved the four-time Verizon IndyCar Series champion within one victory of tying Michael Andretti for third on the all-time win list. It’s also the 13th straight season Dixon has won at least one race, extending his Indy car record.
“We raced as hard as we could,” Dixon said. “We had a little bit of luck go our way, we had good strategy, the pit stops were fantastic. These are the days you have to capitalize on.
“This is huge for Honda at a track that doesn’t suit our configuration, but the power and the (fuel) mileage really performed today. I’m just happy to be in the winner’s circle for the first time this year. At Road America, that’s mega.”
Driving the No. 9 Honda, Dixon started fifth and made what wound up being the decisive pass of the day on lap 31. Relying on his softer Firestone alternate tires, Dixon zoomed past Newgarden, using the primary tire compound, on a restart and into the lead heading into turn 1 on the 4.014-mile, 14-turn circuit.
“I think strategy-wise we definitely played it right with going to the red (alternate) tires at that point,” Dixon said. “The (primary) blacks definitely take a bit longer to come up, to get the grip that you need.
“Josef gave me the room. He obviously had a moment which made it pretty close and pretty tight with the way his car slid, but we both got through there. With other people, you probably wouldn’t have pulled that off. It was nice to race clean with Josef today.”
Dixon led 24 of the last 25 laps to win for the first time at Road America in his fourth start on the track named by most Verizon IndyCar Series drivers as their favorite road course. Dixon has now won on 11 of the 16 circuits on this year’s schedule.
His first win of 2017 allowed Dixon to stretch his championship lead to 34 points over last year’s titlist, Simon Pagenaud. It also makes Dixon the eighth different driver to win in 10 races this season, another indicator of the ultra-high level of competition within the Verizon IndyCar Series.
Team Penske drivers finished second through fifth in the 55-lap race. Trailing Newgarden across the finish line were Helio Castroneves in third place, Pagenaud in fourth and Will Power in fifth.
“It stings a little bit coming home second when you feel like you have a winning car,” said Newgarden, who started third in the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet. “Scott was great today, so was Ganassi Racing. Those guys did a great job, certainly very deserving of the win. But that’s tough coming up a little bit short.
“I felt like when the caution came out and we were on the primary tires, Helio and Scott had the alternates, I thought this is probably not going to be very good on the restart,” Newgarden added. “It was hard to get temperature in them to get up to speed for the restart.”
Dixon, with eight top-six finishes in the first 10 races, has totaled 379 points through 10 races. Pagenaud is second in the standings with 345, Road America pole sitter Castroneves third at 342, Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato fourth with 323 and Newgarden fifth at 318.
Sato, battling a painful strained neck muscle, lost control of his No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda on lp 29 and hit the barrier in trn 11, bringing out the first full-course caution. Tony Kanaan, in the No. 10 Honda, crashed in the same area on lap 46 after making light contact with the No. 98 Honda of Alexander Rossi. Kanaan was making his Indy car-record 275th consecutive race start.
The next Verizon IndyCar Series race is the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway on July 9.
Verizon IndyCar Series
Road America – Elkhart Lake, WI
KOHLER Grand Prix – June 25, 2017
1. (5) Scott Dixon, Honda, 55, Running
2. (3) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 55, Running
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4. (4) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 55, Running
5. (2) Will Power, Chevrolet, 55, Running
6. (10) Charlie Kimball, Honda, 55, Running
7. (11) Ed Jones, Honda, 55, Running
8. (6) Graham Rahal, Honda, 55, Running
9. (7) Max Chilton, Honda, 55, Running
10. (19) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 55, Running
11. (13) Carlos Munoz, Chevrolet, 55, Running
12. (14) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 55, Running
13. (15) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 55, Running
14. (12) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 55, Running
15. (21) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 55, Running
16. (18) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 55, Running
17. (17) Esteban Gutierrez, Honda, 55, Running
18. (8) Marco Andretti, Honda, 54, Running
19. (20) Takuma Sato, Honda, 54, Running
20. (9) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 53, Running
21. (16) Tony Kanaan, Honda, 44, Contact
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 123.431 mph
Time of Race: 1:47:18.9870
Margin of victory: 0.5779 of a second
Cautions: 2 for 3 laps
Lead changes: 6 among 4 drivers
Lap Leaders: Castroneves 1-12, Newgarden 13-14, Castroneves 15-19, Newgarden 20-30, Dixon 31-42, Kimball 43, Dixon 44-55
Verizon IndyCar Series point standings: Dixon 379, Pagenaud 345, Castroneves 342, Sato 323, Newgarden 318, Power 316, Rahal 307, Kanaan 273, Rossi 271, Jones 254.
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