INDIANAPOLIS — After finishing runner-up each of the last three years on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Scott Dixon now has one fewer winless track in his 20-year IndyCar career.
The 39-year-old Chip Ganassi Racing veteran proved trend-setter, good-luck recipient and, finally, dominant driver in the 80-lap GMR Grand Prix on Saturday, winning by nearly 20 seconds over second-place Graham Rahal. Defending champion Simon Pagenaud rounded out the podium in third after starting in 20th.
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The win was the 48th of Dixon's career, following his dominant run in last month's season-opener at Texas Motor Speedway where he led 157 of the 200 laps. He's now within four wins from second-place Mario Andretti on the all-time leaderboard.
With a slightly-shortened race from years prior, from 85 laps down to 80, strategy came even more into play, with team managers stating this week that a two-stop strategy could be a way some teams could swerve.
Pole-sitter Will Power appeared poised to do just that early-on, but Dixon was one of the first drivers to dip into the pits on Lap 10, starting out with primary Firestone black tires and switching to the quicker reds. Very quickly, he caught the attention of the rest of the field that saw him laying down laps a second or more faster than the rest. Not long after, Power dipped in, handing over the race lead to Graham Rahal for the time being.
Through 20 laps, only five cars had yet to pit -- Rahal, Conor Daly, Spencer Pigot, Santino Ferrucci and Sage Karam -- proving to be the drivers who would pray for a couple well-timed cautions to try and push through on just two stops. Those cars dipped in on Lap 26, giving the race back to Power.
Then, a bout of great luck struck for Dixon. After coming into the pits on Lap 33 for his second stop, Arrow McLaren SP driver Oliver Askew lost control of the rear of his No. 7 Chevy in Turn 14 and slammed into the wall on Lap 36, causing the only extended caution period of the afternoon.
It meant Dixon and the present leaders would need just one more stop — with the latter needing to be much more cautious on the fuel consumption. Rahal assumed the lead as the race went green on Lap 40, but Dixon quickly ate up the deficit and put the Rahal Letterman Lanigan car in his rearview mirror with the No. 15 needing to be conservative to wait until Lap 54 for his final stop of the day.
Dixon pitted one lap later, on Lap 55 and took back the lead on Lap 62 after the field shuffled through. From there, his final fourth of the race looked similar to his performance four weeks ago at Texas, where he built a eight-second lead around the midway point and ran away in a late-race restart to win by more than four seconds.
Pole-sitter Power finished a disappointing 20th, his car stalling in the pits during his final stop. After finishing 13th at Texas, the Team Penske driver faces a tall task of making up ground in the series championship race. Similarly, fellow title contender Alexander Rossi finds himself well behind after two races, having finished 15th at Texas, before his car sputtered to the pits midway through, ending his day. He finished 25th.
Email IndyStar motor sports reporter Nathan Brown at nlbrown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @By_NathanBrown.
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Scott Dixon dominant again, going back-to-back to start the IndyCar season after GMR Grand Prix win - IndyStar
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