Tag: Scott Dixon

A Few Quick Thoughts on a Random Race

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Scott Dixon did it again. One of these days the series will learn not to give him a penalty- or two- as he received today. It seems to motivate Dixon and his team. Dixon won three of the final four races and finished second in then points.

The tone for the race was set when control chose to start the race despite several cars, notably Colton Herta, jumping out of line. It looked like a start that should have been waved off to me.

The chaos throughout the race was caused by a couple of things. It was the last race of the season, and most drivers had nothing to fight for. The new track surface- slippery and fast- caused problems all weekend. The thing I didn’t understand is why the start/restart zone was in the last urn. If it is brought onto the straight, many of the yellows may have been avoided.

Once again, Pato O’Ward was a victim of untimely yellow flags while leading. I will say, to be fair, his tire strategy played a part in it too today. The yellows somewhat dictated that, but the team has struggled most of the year with pit calls.

It was a great day for Juncos Hollinger Racing. Callum Ilott ran as high as third before falling to fifth. Agustin Canapino was in the top 10 until a late off road excursion dropped him to 14th.

Newgarden Swoon– Since sweeping the double header at Iowa, Josef Newgarden’s finishes over the last five races were fourth at Nashville, 25th at the IMS road course, 25th at Gateway, fifth at Portland, and 21st today. Newgarden ended the season in fifth place.

It was a tough last drive for Helio Castroneves. He was involved in several contact situations, and he spent a lot of time in the gravel, but still soldiered home in 13th on the lead lap.

Scott McLaughlin overcame the lap 1 incident and some other contact to finish second and place third in the final standings. Mclaughlin was my preseason pick to win the championship this year.

hat is it for me tonight. I will have some more thoughts this race and the season tomorrow. Thanks for following along this weekend and all season.

Bommarito 500- A Dixon Masterpiece

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Good morning, Just a few notes on yesterday’s race. I will have a full weekend wrapup after I get home this afternoon and have a chance to watch the replay.

All my notes can be reduced to two words- Scott Dixon. I have seen many masterful drives from Dixon involving fuel saving, but Sunday was one of the best I’ve witnessed. It was brilliant strategy winning this particular race on three stops given the long green flag stretches, including the entire second half of the race.

Over the years I have said that in Dixon we are watching a legend at work. I appreciate seeing Dixon drive every race. It has been easy to dismiss his chances lately because of the strength of his teammate Alex Palou, but Dixon has won just one less race than Palou over the last two years. Dixon has won on an oval, street course, and road course in that time. Palou has yet to score his fist oval victory.

I believe Dixon has a shot at joining A. J. Foyt in the 60 win club. I don’t think he will catch Foyt’s mark of 67, but I can see him winning five more times before he retires.

Newgarden Eliminated

The stars aligned for Josef Newgarden to make significant headway in his quest to chase down Alex Palou for the championship, but wall contact on lap 210 knocked him out of the race. He finished 25th for the second straight race. Newgarden is out of contention for the title.

He has won at least four races for two consecutive seasons, and he has no Astor Cup to show for it. Newgarden’s issue is consistency. He is a master on the ovals, but his road and street course performances need to improve.

Palou Worried? He Shouldn’t Be

Alex Palou lost 27 points to Dixon Sunday and his lead is now just 74 points with two races remaining. Some might say Palou is starting to hear the theme music from Jaws with Dixon making another late season charge. But Palou can lose 27 points in each of the final two races and still win the title comfortably.

Dixon could win the final two events, and if Palou finishes in the top, he is the champion. Palou’s worst finish in 2023 is eighth. He waqs seventh yesterday.

Malukas Has Found His Track

David Malukas scored his second podium in a row at World Wide Technology Raceway, finishing third yesterday. Malukas came home second in 2022. Each driver has a track where everything comes together for them, no matter how the rest of the season goes. Malukas has found his home.

Notes

I thought it was an interesting race from a strategy standpoint, and a good race for this track. The multiple strategies made keeping track of who the effective leader was as complicated as the figures on Oppenheimer’s chalkboard at Berkely at times, but the drama of whether Dixon could make it all the way on stints of 65 plus laps (of course he would-it’s Dixon) gave some tension to the final segment.

More frustration for Pato O’Ward and Arrow McLaren. The team and driver have been in contention for the win at every oval this season, but they have no wins. O’Ward arguably had the fastest car after the first pit stop.

I’m not sure O’Ward will win one of the final two races of the year.

Linus Lundqvist again proved he belongs. He started 12th. His first oval race looked mostly like he was stuck in mid pack all day, but Lundqvist turned the fastest lap of the race on lap 62. The lap was a half second faster than Dixon’s fastest leading lap.

Thanks for following along this weekend. Saturday’s weather made the program chaotic, but at least we got some night racing action out of it. I hope Indycar takes the hint Mother Nature has given them the past two years here and just schedules a night race.

Some Very Quick Notes on the Gallagher Grand Prix

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Photo by Kyle McInnes

Today’s race was arguably one of the three best races on the IMS road course. The first turn move by Devlin DeFrancesco to take the lead from fifth was a thing of beauty. The crash six turns later set strategy in play that eventually decided the result. The last 30 laps were as exciting as any I’ve seen in the 500. Graham Rahal cut Scott Dixon’s lead from seven seconds to 0.04 seconds at the finish.

Overall, it was a great weekend for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Rahal won pole and finished second. Christian Lundgaard finished fourth. Rahal led the most laps. It is nice to see this team competitive again. I hope RLLR stays strong through the end of the season.

Linus Lundqvist had a solid day today for MSR, staring and finishing 12th. He ran in the top 10 quite a bit.

Alex Palou’s seventh place finish, his second worst of the year, actually increased his point lead as Dixon jumped ahead of Josef Newgarden. Palou takes a 101 point lead into the final three races of the year.

Newgarden had what was likely the worst Indycar weekend of his career. He was slow in practice, qualified 19th, missed the weigh in and lost 10 minutes in final practice; an unapproved engine change placed him six spots further back on the grid. Newgarden suffered the most damage in the turn seven pileup on lap1. He languished at the rea alld day, finishing 25th.

I don’t know what else to say about Scott Dixon. He was won at least one race every season for 19 straight years, added his 54th career win, moved into second place in the points, and again turned misfortune into a positive outcome. I firmly believe Dixon is an alchemist.

I will have a wrap up of the race up here in a day or two after I watch the replay. Thanks for following along the last two days.

Dixon Tops Morning WarmUp

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Scott Dixon had the ffaststestt lap in this morning’s pre race warmuup for this afternoon’s Honda Indy Toronto. his time of 1:01.3208 was sisix hundredths quicker than Kyle Kirrkwood and nearly three tenths better than Josef Newgarden.

The 390 minute sessionn ran free of toppagees, and was highlighted by a racing duel between Scott McLaughlin and Felix Rosenqvist.

Pole sitter Christian Lundgaard finished sixth fastest and points leader Alex palou was fifth.

barring a win by Dixon tghis afternoon, which i think is a posibility, Palou’s lead should remain in triple digits.

My possible winners include Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Will Power, or Colton Herta.

The top 10:

Dixon Paces Another Disjointed Session

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Scott Dixon led another practice broken up by red flags. Five red flags fractured the practice into bursts of action.The most serious accident came with 10 minutes to go when Devlin deFrancesco hit the outside wall in turn 6. DeFrancesco was unhurt, but the car had severe damage.

Dixon’s time of1:03.2317 was slower than the fast time set by Pato O’Ward yesterday. O’Ward was seventh this morning.

Will Power was second quick today, and kyle kirkwood ended the hour third. The top 12 were within a second of Dixon’s time.

Callum Ilott finished ninth, his second top 10 of the weekend.

Results

Dixon Leads Final Practice; Mixed Results on Second Groove

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Scott Dixon posted the fastest lap in the final practice as just a few drivers took advantage of the rubbered in higher line. Josef newgarden and pATO o’ward used the higher line the most, with Nwgarden going into the second groove early in the sesion and O’Ward using it later.

While the practice ran incident free, in the high line session Conor Daly spun coming oput of turn 4. He narrowly missed hitting the outside wall, then spun into the grass before righting the car and driving back to the pits. Benjamin Pedersen avoided a collision with Daly.

It was not a good afternoon for Meyer Shank Racing. Helio Castroneves broke a bearing and never got onto the track. Simon Pagenaud was late to the weigh in and was penalized the last 10 minutes of the session.

I don’t think we can draw any conclusions on the second groove yet. Tomorrow will be warmer than today by mid race, and whatever Goodyear rubber the truck race leaves will be a factor as well.

Results:

19Scott DixonChip Ganassi RacingHonda222.37884
22Josef NewgardenTeam PenskeChevy221.79259
311Takuma SatoChip Ganassi RacingHonda220.99273
43Scott McLaughlinTeam PenskeChevy220.86695
526Colton HertaAndretti Autosport w/Curb-AgajanianHonda220.80789
612Will PowerTeam PenskeChevy220.58397
777Callum IlottJuncos Hollinger RacingChevy220.46262
86Felix RosenqvistArrow McLarenChevy220.11593
910Alex PalouChip Ganassi RacingHonda219.86888
108Marcus EricssonChip Ganassi RacingHonda219.674100
117Alexander RossiArrow McLarenChevy219.41981
1228Romain GrosjeanAndretti AutosportHonda219.06370
135Pato O’WardArrow McLarenChevy218.77195
1418David MalukasDale Coyne Racing with HMDHonda218.54287
1578Agustin CanapinoJuncos Holling RacingChevy218.34356
1627Kyle KirkwoodAndretti AutosportHonda218.24647
1751Sting Ray RobbDale Coyne Racing w/RWRHonda218.19392
1860Simon PagenaudMeyer Shank RacingHonda217.86749
1945Christian LundgaardRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda217.62976
2020Conor DalyEd Carpenter RacingChevy217.59048
2133Ed CarpenterEd Carpenter RacingChevy217.42472
2229Devlin DeFrancescoAndretti Steinbrenner AutosportHonda217.39050
2315Graham RahalRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda217.04551
2455Benjamin PedersenAJ Foyt EnterprisesChevy216.65659
2514Santino FerrucciAJ Foyt EnterprisesChevy216.63774
2621Rinus VeeKayEd Carpenter RacingChevy216.42791
2730Jack HarveyRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda215.51142
286Helio CastronevesMeyer Shank RacingHonda—0

Dixon’s Late Lap Fastest in Friday Practice

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In the end, the kids had to let the veterans through. Kyle Kirkwood led most of the last half of practice for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. In the last five minutes,first Alex palou then Scott Dixon beat his time. Colton Herta slipped into secpnd just before the checkered flag.

Dixon’s time of 1:01.6146 beat Herta by0.0329 swconds. The top five had a separation of 0.084 seconds.

Results:

Three red flags interrupted the session. Several cars had issues in turn 3. The Rahal letterman Lanigan Racing cars of Christian Lundgaard and Graham Rahal suffered brake issues.

I will have more about the day later this evening.

Quick Thoughts- Portland Grand Prix

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A very processional race sets up an intriguing championship fight next week. Scott mclaughlin’s dominant win pulls him within 41 points of Will Power. Scott Dixon and josef Newgarden both trail Power by 20 points, and Marcus Ericsson is just 39 points behind.

This is the closest five drivers have been heading into the final race since 2003. Ericsson and McLaughlin need a lot of help to win the title, but Dixon and Newgarden have a legitimate chance.

Alloowing the race to start at the exit of turn 12 helped avoid a big wreck in turn 1, but as I feared, it made for a rather mundane race.

Someday Christian Lundgaard wiil put a complete race together. Today was not that day. He made a brilliant move in turn 1 to to grab second from Power, but his late error in turn 1 after the caution cost him a top 10.

David Malukas now trails Lundgaard by just five points in the Rookie of the Year standings.

Never count out Scott Dixon. Another bad qualifying turned into a podium finish. He’s been in a couple of championships that went to the finale.

Newgarden may have cost himself a copuple of spots by going with blacks on his final stint.

Rinus VeeKay continues his up and down season. His contact with Jimmie Johnson cost hoim a possible top 10 finish.

I never thought I would see a Portland race with just one caution.

Podium Down Under

For the first time since 2011, all the drivers on the podium were from Australia or New Zealand.

All three drivers wilbe in contention for the win next week. as well. Dixon said tire degradation is extremely high at Weather Tech Raceway. Power repated what he said yesterday about it being a difficult track.

I will have a wrap up of the weekend tomorrow for you to read as I drive to Seattle. Thanks for following along this weekend.

Points Battle- Spoilers, Helpers, Bonus Points

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Will Power has a very tenuous lead heading into the final two races

The Indycar title fight is down to four drivers who are separated by just 17 points. Three of the four have nine Indycar championships between them. 2022 is one of the closest four driver battles with two races left that I remember. It is also a team battle, Team Penske vs. Chip Ganassi Racing.

The standings:

I have shown the top six because Alex Palou drives for Ganassi and Scott McLaughlin drives for Penske. They are both a bit too far out to have a realistic chance at the title unless all four ahead of them have some extremely bad luck the next two weekends. but they have a role to play. Palou and Mclaughlin need to help their teammates by taking points away from the competitors on the other team.

If either Palou or McLaughlin should win of the last two races- Palou won at Portland last year- it doesn’t necessarily hurt their team members.

Bonus Points

The three point difference between Power and Newgarden can be contributed to the bonus points Power earned at Gateway last weekend. The championship could come down to who scores the most bonus points at Portland and Laguna Seca. The season long bonus point standings”

Dixon 21 (5 races)

Power 18 (10 races)

Newgarden 18 (9 races)

Ericsson 12 (5 races)

Dixon’s total is skewed by the 12 points he earned for winning the pole at the Indianapolis 500. He would have just 10 bonus points if Indianapolis awarded the normal ingle point for pole.

Power and Dixon are the only two of this group who have earned maximum bonus points for a race.

Testing as Strategy

Most Indycar teams have one test day left, and the top two teams have each chosen a different track to map the final push.

Today, Team Penske tests at Portland. Ganassi tests Monday at L:aguna Seca. Ganassi tested at Portland last year and took the pole and the race win.