A furious Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda says that the gloves are off after the Iceman suffered his first DNF for a number of seasons in Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The six-time series champion who started the race from fifth place was livid at how the start panned out after los8ng two places.

On lap 20 of the 85 lap event, Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren muscled his way past the Kiwi resulting in a collision that ultimately saw Dixon hit the tires and eventually retire from the race.

“I haven’t seen a proper replay, but that seemed extremely late and it starts way before that. We’re already committed to the corner. I understand that there is tire degradation, but I would not have chosen to do that … Disappointed with that. We passed the No. 60 but then just lost drive after that and got back to the pits. Frustrating day.”

While Dixon had a frustrating day, Marcus Ericsson in the No.8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda retook the championship lead from Pato O’Ward following a third place finish.

It was a really good weekend. We were fast all the way through. It was a hectic race. We were running very well and then on that restart in the middle, we dropped back a bit and lost some positions. But the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda was so fast out there and we made up the ground and finished on the podium. I’m really happy with that and now we have got the championship lead. Bring on the rest of the season

Alex Palou in the No.10 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda finished the race in fifth place and speaking following the action he said:

It’s a bit of a sour day. I think our car was one of the strongest and was running very well at the beginning of the race. Unfortunately, I got caught up with an incident and had to wait until he (No. 5) was able to get back on track. We lost a lot of positions there, but happy that we recovered from 12th or 13th back to fifth. We got a top-5 finish, and then the podium for Marcus, so a solid effort by the team. We had strong cars and I can’t wait for Barber in just a matter of days now.”

For Marcus Armstrong in the No.11 The American Legion Honda he had a fantastic day coming home in eighth place and speaking following the race he said:

“I think it was a great day. It was a genuine pleasure to drive the Ganassi car, as it was very well-balanced from start to finish, especially on the primary tires. The performance was there; It was just about finding that clear air.”

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