IndyCar

The drought finally is over for Scott Dixon. Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Dixon earned his first victory since May 2021 at Texas Motor Speedway – a ...

Then Herta focused on his mirrors and resisted intense pressure from behind from Rosenqvist, prevailing for second over the Swede by .5384 of a second at the finish. The crucial run of five NTT INDYCAR SERIES races in four weeks continues with the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend this Friday through Sunday at Iowa Speedway, featuring a doubleheader on the .875-mile oval. That overtaking maneuver proved decisive, and Dixon circulated to the front on Lap 32 when Pato O’Ward surrendered the lead after finally making his first pit stop in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. “We made some adjustments after this morning (based) on some of the different tracks that we’ve been throughout the year. “He looked like a few more laps, and he was going to get us. “I’m hoping this is the start of the roll. Dixon’s fourth career Toronto victory extended his record to 18 consecutive INDYCAR SERIES seasons with at least one win, and he also has won a race in a record 20 seasons overall. We had fought with understeer, and that definitely wasn’t the case today. The victory also was the 52nd of Dixon’s career, tying him with fellow legend Mario Andretti for No. 2 on the all-time INDYCAR SERIES win list. A crazy year for the 9. “Just so happy for the team. “We struggled a little bit on reds,” Dixon said of the Firestone alternate tires.

The six-time series champion finally snapped a 22-race winless streak.

We struggled a little with tire wear at the end but our car was amazing. Herta's second-place run over the rough, bumpy Toronto circuit capped a whirlwind week that began with a test in Portugal for McLaren's F1 program. “We had a good plan, a good strategy. “It was a very good day for us," Ericsson said. Dixon qualified second and spent the day running up front, despite creative fuel and tire strategies as teams jockeyed for track position early in the race. The next victory moves Dixon past Andretti and continues the climb toward Foyt, who holds a record that may never be broken with 67 career wins.

Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda's legend Scott Dixon held off Colton Herta and Felix Rosenqvist to score his 52nd IndyCar triumph and his fourth in Toronto, ...

P P P P P P P In the final 10 laps, Palou eased off from the back of Ericsson, allowing the championship leader to focus on trying to find a way past Rahal. Three seconds further up the road, Rosenqvist’s efforts to get around Herta redoubled, but he couldn’t quite get it done, and he fell half a second short. Another Penske driver, however, moved forward, getting ahead of O’Ward and Malukas to grab 10th. With VeeKay and Daly having stayed out front after their late stops, Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet had a 1-2 – VeeKay on reds, Daly on blacks – ahead of Dixon, Herta, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin, Rahal, Pagenaud, Ericsson and Palou. Following the restart, Newgarden lost out further to Christian Lundgaard and O’Ward. Not that Newgarden then made any notable progress thereafter because he was in fuel-save mode having been one of the early stoppers. Rahal finally pitted from the lead on Lap 25, emerging in 14th which would become 10th once his fellow long runners stopped.

The possible future IndyCar teammates get together on Lap 45 at Toronto, with Rossi getting the worst of it.

Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist got together on Lap 45 of 85, and Rossi was sent into a retaining wall. Rosenqvist continued on. Alexander Rossi, Felix Rosenqvist crash in IndyCar race at Toronto

Chip Ganassi Racing's legend Scott Dixon held off Colton Herta and Felix Rosenqvist to score his 52nd IndyCar triumph and his fourth in Toronto.

The debris left behind obliged race control to throw the full-course caution. At Turn 3, the AMSP driver flicked to the inside of future AMSP driver Rossi, and he was fully alongside as they exited the turn but, as Rosenqvist floored the throttle, his car slid sideways and the contact sent the Andretti car hard into the wall. Behind them, Newgarden and now Rossi were ahead of Malukas, while Felix Rosenqvist had turned in fast enough laps at the end of his stint to emerge ahead of McLaughlin and hold off the Penske driver.

Scott Dixon won in Toronto to score the 52nd victory of his IndyCar career and tie Mario Andretti on the all-time win list.

The strategy for the race, you had to overtake on track and do good pit stops. With IndyCar racing for the first time since 2019 on the Toronto street course, the first half of the race was unusually clean. “Super pleased with how we ended the race,” Palou told Burns. “Shame that we had the car to do a little better, but it was a huge day for the team. We gambled a bit pitting early on the first top, and it kind of worked.” I was clever when I had to be and aggressive when I had to be. That was the capper to a controversial week in which he has been claimed by two teams for next season. At the end, a couple of guys had a bad restart, I picked up a few positions, and that’s going to be really important when we sum this up at the end of the season. Other than that, the car was amazing, and obviously got beat by Dixon but one of those races to be proud of, a pole and second, I’m happy with that. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver controlled the second half of the races, winning by 0.8106 seconds for his 52nd career victory to tie Mario Andretti for second on the all-time win list. It’s tough to pick your battles, but I think we did that well today.” A very fine line of how aggressive you need to be without being stupid. Dixon pitted a lap earlier than Herta and then cycled into the lead on Lap 32 of 85.

Toronto results, points: Scott Dixon scored his first victory of the NTT IndyCar season while teammate Marcus Ericsson took fifth to continue his title bid.

NEXT: IndyCar will head to Iowa Speedway for a doubleheader weekend July 23-24. 18. (12) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 85, Running 17. (17) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 85, Running 16. (11) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 85, Running 12. (5) David Malukas, Honda, 85, Running 8. (10) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 85, Running 7. (18) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 85, Running 6. (22) Alex Palou, Honda, 85, Running 5. (9) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 85, Running 4. (14) Graham Rahal, Honda, 85, Running 2. (1) Colton Herta, Honda, 85, Running 1. (2) Scott Dixon, Honda, 85, Running

Kiwi motorsport superstar has been waiting for more than a year to tie the record of Andretti.

We struggled a little with tire wear at the end but our car was amazing. Herta's second-place run over the rough, bumpy Toronto circuit capped a whirlwind week that began with a test in Portugal for McLaren's F1 program. “We had a good plan, a good strategy. Dixon qualified second and spent the day running up front, despite creative fuel and tire strategies as teams jockeyed for track position early in the race. “It was a very good day for us," Ericsson said. The next victory moves Dixon past Andretti and continues the climb toward Foyt, who holds a record that may never be broken with 67 career wins.

On Sunday, when Scott Dixon tied Mario Andretti for second all-time in IndyCar wins, Chip Ganassi gave no congratulatory public comments to the media.

That’s his thing, but the way I see it, he’s my teammate until at least the end of this season, and I’m going to work the same way with him, and I feel like he’s been the same to me as he’s been the last year and a half.” That will be precisely the challenge: unselfish work for one man and one team, even as personal aspirations — both on and off-track divert drastically in the coming weeks. What you see here is perhaps the tip of the iceberg of what goes on at Chip Ganassi Racing for how hard everybody unselfishly works.” “And we relish a day like today being able to do that. He’s been on Dixon’s timing stand for all his 51 victories with the team, a truly impressive, unmatched partnership filled with some of the sport’s biggest and most sought-after milestones. And it’s a run like that that may be needed to overcome a 40-point deficit to the likes of Ericsson, Power, Palou and Newgarden — four championships to their names, three of them since the start of 2017 when it hasn’t been Dixon. Dixon, said Friday that none of the noise should have any affect on his No. 9 crew, as awkward as the digestion of it all may be, but he noticed a particular calmness to his boss. “Obviously there’s noise, but it is what it is, and it’s part of the job. “I know from the outside, things can look a bit chaotic, but at the end of the day, it’s racing and we put everything aside to race,” Palou told IndyStar post-race. A strong first practice on a track he’d never visited led to early contact while pushing to find the limits in Practice No. 2, sustaining heavy damage to his No. 10 Honda that ended the session. I think what Chip does, whether it’s his tough pep talks, this is his only business he’s in, and all he wants to do is win. No sweat, no stutters, just a few pauses and a handful of wry smiles.

Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar driver Felix Rosenqvist hopes his performance in finishing third in Toronto will cause doubts among team management over his ...

“If you asked me at the end of last year, obviously it would have been a different answer, but right now I'm just very happy where I'm at. Probably it's going to take a couple weeks before we know more. I'm going to take that chance. “There's still a long way to go in the year, and every race keeps getting better and better. I didn't know all the details of it that I know now, but nothing has actually changed. It's up to lawyers and stuff.

In recent weeks, McLaren Racing has announced the signings of Rossi, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner, and reigning series champion Alex Palou while retaining ...

He is fourth in the standings, 44 points out of the lead. - Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) started deeper than 15th for the fourth consecutive race, the most of his career, but he could not deliver the magic he showed at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course while driving from the back of the field to finish third. The final race of the season is Sept. 1-4 at Portland International Raceway. - Reigning series champion Alex Palou (No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) rallied from a difficult week to finish sixth. Hopefully this is a kick-start of great things to come.” His previous best finish this season was a pair of sevenths (in St. Petersburg and Long Beach). (There’s) a lot of heart in this program. I know if we had room at the inn (at RLLR), I’d be pushing for him (to be hired).” “It’s still a long way to go in the year, but as I said, each race we keep getting better and better. “There was nothing I could do,” he said. That’s worth the price for me. Rosenqvist got inside Rossi, and they bumped as they climbed the hill toward Turn 4.

Alex Palou's controversial contract situation involving Chip Ganassi Racing and McLaren has many layers to consider including Formula One, IndyCar, ...

“I know that Chip Ganassi and everybody around me are all professionals and we want to win,” Palou said. “I’m not going to tell more about what I said already,” Palou said. “The biggest thing is knowledge of another top team and extracting where we are weak and what we need to work on. “I’m super happy where I am and committed to winning this championship since race one,” he said. “I think it would be fantastic to have him (Palou) on the team,” O’Ward said. “Zak Brown is the only one that has that amount of power to do that,” O’Ward said. We have to perform and have fun.” “Both him and Rossi would bring a completely new feeling because our car is different than every other car on the grid. Rosenqvist called him a “role model” for other drivers in the series. Palou is a top young talent in IndyCar and despite all of the noise that began with last Tuesday’s shocking announcements from both CGI and McLaren, he remains a challenger for the 2022 IndyCar title. When IndyCar team owner Chip Ganassi arrived in the paddock on Friday morning for the Honda Indy Toronto, he remained adamant that he has a contract for Palou to drive for his team in 2023. I didn't know all the details of it that I know now, but nothing has actually changed.”

Some IndyCar drivers had significant breakthrough results in Toronto. Others messed up, went backwards or never starred at all.

Second in the points coming to Toronto, Will Power was 15th in a messy race dominated by understeer Penske couldn’t dial out. He had the whole stint to recover but wasn’t able to make inroads. He criticised his team-mate Alex Palou’s handling of his future after Ganassi and McLaren both announced they’d signed him for 2023, but Dixon also credited a team effort for the end result. O’Ward is desperate to share a podium with his team-mate, but the duo will have to wait at least another race. Perhaps Rossi could have conceded earlier but he was within his rights to defend. It’s exactly what he needed in the championship as others faltered and he moved up. He should have been in the top six in qualifying but didn’t get a clean lap. No driver accepted blame for the incident. Without attempting to over-analyse body language, Dixon’s pitlane speeding mistake at the Indianapolis 500 still appears to haunt him as he discussed that and other issues regularly this season. Eleventh, 16th, ninth and 12th over his last four races has been a really nice run and a fifth-place qualifying here probably shows how far he’s outperforming his machinery as he tends to fall back under pressure in the races. He just tried really hard, but accepted when the battle was lost and took the points. No risky moves, no over pushing or repeat threats from the wall that he was coming close.

But don't overlook that Marcus Ericsson, in his third season with Chip Ganassi Racing, not only maintained the series points lead with a fifth-place finish, he ...

The Iowa Speedway doubleheader is part of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ stretch of five races in four weekends. Palou had a misstep, of course, banging the Turn 2 wall Saturday, but he drove a masterful race, climbing from the 22nd starting position to finish sixth. What happens from here remains to be seen, but it would be unwise to count the Spaniard out of this championship pursuit. That’s going to be really important at the end of the season. He would be wise to watch for Dixon in his mirrors, and of course reigning series champion Palou and the Penske duo of Power and Newgarden, former champions each. “I think (Toronto) was a perfect drive for me. I was clever when I had to be and aggressive when I had to be because a couple of guys (ahead) did a bad restart and I had to pick up two positions. Both Dixon and Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet) are 44 points behind Ericsson, but Newgarden occupies the fourth spot in the standings because he has more victories this season than Dixon, with three. If that was a lingering situation during the race weekend, it didn’t manifest itself into a public problem. “I remember the day winning my first race, the next day was a real struggle, probably had a few too many drinks that night. Keep in mind that his first series win came 21 years ago (2001 at Nazareth Speedway). He also won three straight July races in 2013, including a doubleheader sweep in Toronto.