Chip Ganassi Racing gave Honda Performance Development a double podium finish in the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville.
Six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing described his race as brutal. Starting the race from 14th the Iceman got caught up in an accident which saw him have to pit multiple times for repairs but he preserved and came through the field to claim his 53rd career victory and is just six points behind championship leader Will Power.
Speaking following the action the Iceman said:
“That was a brutal race. We were involved in a crash just after the start that broke the wheel and took the underwing out of the car. We had to take a bunch of front wing out to try and get it at least a little bit balanced, and the steering was all bent. Just kudos to the team and Honda. Our strategy was right-on, but we still did almost 50 laps on that last set of tires. We didn’t take tires on that last stop [that enabled him to exit the pits in second] so I knew some of those cars [behind him in the closing laps] would be coming fast. But it feels special, very special, to get this [53 rd ] race win here in Nashville. This is cool.”
Defending series champion Alex Palou in the No.10 NTT DATA Honda was happy with his third place finish saying:
“The NTT Data Honda was awesome, and the team did an amazing job with our pit stops and strategies, so I’m happy, and congratulations to Scott [Dixon] for his win. This was good for our championship [effort], but we still need to push hard. We got one step closer today closing to within 33 points of the championship lead], but there still is a long way to go. I’m a bit lucky today that the contact I had with [Will] Power didn’t do any more damage [than a cracked/bent front wing] and I need apologize to him. I didn’t realize he was in trouble and slowing so much [when they made
contact]. But yeah, overall, I have to be very happy with today’s result.
“It was another wild race here in Nashville, which looks like might become the norm here, with a lot of attrition. Congratulations to Scott Dixon, now second on the all-time IndyCar winners list, the entire Chip Ganassi Racing organization for all their efforts. In a lot of ways, this race was a repeat of last year, with the winner encountering a major problem early in the race, but never giving up, making multiple pit stops to repair the car as much as possible. Then Scott [Dixon] putting in a champions-caliber drive, now just six points out of the championship lead. It was a similar race for Colton [Herta] and Alexander [Rossi], netting them fourth and fifth. A great day for Honda and everyone at HPD.