Dixon matches a record held by Foyt
Happily, the answer to that question was a defiant ‘no’. The sessions and the race passed without serious incident, as drivers raced hard, fast and safely around the 1.5-mile oval without having to revert to running in packs where the smallest error can trigger catastrophic multi-car accidents.
Penkse’s reigning champion Josef Newgarden took pole position in his Dallara-Chevrolet, but it was Dixon’s Honda-powered Chip Ganassi Racing entry that would dominate, leading 157 of the 200 laps and winning by 4.411 seconds from Penske’s Simon Pagenaud.
New Zealander Dixon is one of those racing drivers who somehow never started an F1 grand prix, despite clear and obvious talent. Instead, he has ploughed a hugely successful furrow in America, winning five IndyCar titles. This victory marked his 47th in the series, leaving him just five short of Mario Andretti’s 52. He is still 20 wins short of AJ Foyt’s outright record, but Dixon did at least equal one of the Texan legend’s achievements on Saturday, matching his mark for scoring at least one win in 18 different seasons, while extending his own record for victories in consecutive seasons to 16.
“It was such a team effort,” said a delighted Dixon as he lowered his medical mask for a post-race interview. “We had a couple of mistakes there at the start and at points throughout the race, but we recovered. It was awesome. Honda — it was huge, man. The power out there, it was just so fast. Any situation we were in we could just go for it. Huge thanks to everybody involved. Bummed that the fans aren’t here; wish everybody was here to celebrate.”