Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon, driver of the No.9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, came from 15th place on the grid to score his 54th career win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on Saturday. The Iceman was sent into a spin on the opening lap of the race following contact from Romain Grosjean; however, the New Zealander but that all behind to win the race just 0.4s ahead of pole-sitter Graham Rahal.
“What a day to win on. “It makes it so fun, especially for this little guy. He gets to see it. It’s been a little while since I’ve had a win, probably over a year. It makes it worthwhile, and we’re going to keep trying to win on (start) No. 320.”
DIxon’s win came in his 319th consecutive start which is a record he has taken from his close friend and former teammate Tony Kanaan.
Dixon went on to say:
“The only problem there toward the end I think on my out laps I pushed it too hard to kind of create that gap on Graham and unfortunately burned the tires up a little bit. “It was a little sketchy at the end, but we tried to put on a show for everyone.” “This one was very special, especially breaking the Iron Man record of 319 straight races. This was the way to do it. The competition in this series is tough and this is a testament to the team and what they bring to the table. We’ve had a very successful year and to get one with the No. 9 PNC Bank team feels very good.”
Speaking about the No.9 PNC Bank team and Honda Performance Development (HPD), Dixon said:
Huge credit to the team for this one. I had a fantastic start, but then got T-boned there in Turn 7 [on the opening lap, dropping him to last in the field]. But this team never gives up. Honda was amazing today. It was so much fun driving my Honda out there today, getting the fuel mileage, cruising along; and fantastic pace when we needed it. The only problem I had all day was I think I pushed too hard on my out lap [after his final pit stop] to build a gap to Graham [Rahal] and unfortunately used the tires up, so it was pretty sketchy at the end. But we put on a show for everyone, and we’re going to keep on trying. It’s cool to be here.”
Dixon made up 14 spots over the course of the race, and speaking following the race, Chip Ganassi Racing Managing Director and strategist to the No.9 PNC Bank car, Mike Hull said:
“We recovered and Scott did his job. He drives so well and understands in the cockpit what we’re doing from the timing stand “It’s been a pleasure to be with him all these years, win all these races and guess what, he just keeps on winning.”
Championship leader Alex Palou in the No.10 The American Legion Honda finished the race in eighth place and finished in seventh and heads to World Wide Technology Raceway with a healthy 101-point lead in the championship over Scott Dixon speaking following the race, he said:
“It was a busy day and a very busy first couple of laps. We played an aggressive strategy which worked really well on the first couple of stints. Then, when we wanted to go fast on the better tire, we didn’t make it work. We had some issues with tire degradation, but it was a solid day for us on the championship side. It was an amazing day for Scott winning the race today.”
Marcus Ericsson in the No.8 Huski Iced Spritz Honda started the race from 17th place and came through the field for a tenth-place finish.
“It was a tough race for us. We were battling there in the midfield and had some good battles back and forth with different cars. Things felt okay, but we couldn’t really make a lot of progress. It’s a hard track to overtake, so we were sort of stuck in a cluster of cars and didn’t go forward the way we wanted to or planned to. It was still nice to recover in the end, pick up a couple of cars and get a top-10. Big congrats to Scott and the No. 9 crew. I’m really happy to see them win the race.”
Marcus Armstrong in the No.11 IU Simon Cancer Center Honda was caught up in the first lap accident and came home in 24th place.
“It was a tough day. We got hit at the start and then after that we were a lap down. We were on a very heavy fuel saving strategy with some damage on the car, so we just tried to push to the end. The car was great up until that moment in time. Congrats to Scott and the 9 car team for the win.”