Dixon Opens IndyCar Season With Victory At Texas

Scott Dixon celebrates in victory lane after winning Saturday night’s NTT IndyCar Series season opener at Texas Motor Speedway. Photo by Chris Owens

Scott Dixon continued his drive into INDYCAR history, powering away from the field on a late restart to win the Genesys 300 on Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway and adding to his growing list of superlatives.

Five-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Dixon drove his No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a victory over Simon Pagenaud. Josef Newgarden, who earned the NTT P1 Award for winning the pole earlier in the day, placed third. The race ended under caution due to an incident on the backstretch as Dixon approached the checkered flag.

Dixon waved goodbye to the field on a restart on lap 197 of the 200-lap race to earn his 47th career INDYCAR victory, just five wins short of tying Mario Andretti for second on the all-time victory list. Dixon, who started second, averaged 175.201 mph and led 157 laps for the victory.

The race on the 1.5-mile oval was the season opener for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of racing for nearly three months. This event took place without fans as a health-and-safety precaution.

“It was such a team effort,” Dixon said. “Honda, the power – it was huge. I don’t know what was with this PNC Bank car, but it was just so fast. Any situation we were in, we could just go for it. Huge thanks to everybody involved. Bummed the fans aren’t here. Wish everybody was here to celebrate.”

Zach Veach finished fourth, tying his career best. Ed Carpenter rebounded from a spin during practice earlier during the one-day event to round out the top five.

The win added to the impressive list of Dixon’s accomplishments as he enters his 20th season of INDYCAR competition. Besides earning his 47th career win, he now has at least one victory for 16 consecutive seasons, a streak that started in 2005.

It appeared late in the race that Dixon and Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Felix Rosenqvist would duel for the victory, as they were the class of the 23-car starting field.

Dixon led by nearly six seconds early in the race, but Rosenqvist pulled to within four-tenths of a second with 35 laps to go as Dixon struggled to find the grip to pass the lapped car of Alexander Rossi.

Both Dixon and Rosenqvist got past Rossi on lap 169. Two laps later, Dixon was forced to check up behind Marco Andretti, letting Rosenqvist stay in touch.

The two cars raced in unison around the high-banked oval for the next 16 laps before Chip Ganassi Racing called Rosenqvist to the pits for his final stop on lap 186. Dixon followed suit with his last pit stop on lap 189 and hustled from pit lane to stay ahead of Rosenqvist when re-entering the back straight from pit lane, albeit in traffic.

Rosenqvist was flying, having turned the fastest lap of the race – 215.025 mph – on lap 189. But he, too, got stuck behind traffic while pursuing Dixon after Dixon’s final stop.

Desperate to stay in touch with Dixon, Rosenqvist’s car wiggled on lap 191 while passing James Hinchcliffe in turn 2. Rosenqvist nearly caught his car, but it did a half-spin and hit the SAFER Barrier at the exit of turn 2 with the left side of the car, ending his night and triggering the last of four caution periods. He was unhurt.

“I can’t blame others for whatever situation I had,” Rosenqvist said. “We came out on new tires. I don’t know if James was on really old tires. It’s my judgment. I went for the outside. Probably shouldn’t have done it. It’s one of those things where you sit there, and you’re going 40 mph slower than you want to go behind another car, it’s kind of tempting to just move up one lane. But it was just so slippery, and I just feel very sorry for my guys.

“The NTT DATA car was really unbelievable tonight. It was my breakthrough on ovals, I think. I had a really good shot there and threw it away. I’m really disappointed.”

Dixon never was threatened on the ensuing, and final, restart on lap 197. He ripped away from Pagenaud and Newgarden and cruised to Victory Lane, turning the fastest lap by a leader of the race – 214.107 mph – on the final circuit.

Newgarden started from the pole and led the first 31 laps. Dixon passed him for the lead on lap 32 and led 157 of the next 168 laps. He took the lead for good on lap 91.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookies Rinus VeeKay and Alex Palou both were unhurt in a crash on lap 38, and veteran Charlie Kimball also was uninjured in a crash on the frantic final lap of the race.

The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the GMR Grand Prix on Saturday, July 4 on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

NTT IndyCar Series
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Genesys 300 – June 6, 2020

1. (2) Scott Dixon, Honda, 200, Running
2. (3) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 200, Running
3. (1) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 200, Running
4. (5) Zach Veach, Honda, 200, Running
5. (13) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 200, Running
6. (19) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 200, Running
7. (14) Colton Herta, Honda, 200, Running
8. (4) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 200, Running
9. (20) Oliver Askew, Chevrolet, 200, Running
10. (10) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 200, Running
11. (12) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 199, Contact
12. (18) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 199, Running
13. (6) Will Power, Chevrolet, 199, Running
14. (11) Marco Andretti, Honda, 199, Running
15. (8) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 199, Running
16. (21) Jack Harvey, Honda, 199, Running
17. (7) Graham Rahal, Honda, 198, Running
18. (15) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 198, Running
19. (17) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 196, Running
20. (9) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 190, Contact
21. (23) Santino Ferrucci, Honda, 156, Mechanical
22. (24) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 36, Contact
23. (16) Alex Palou, Honda, 36, Contact
24. (22) Takuma Sato, Honda, 0, Did Not Start