Motorsports: Scott Dixon Extends IndyCar Series Lead With 50th Career Win

Scott Dixon and Takuma Sato repeated the 20-lap run of the Indianapolis 500 a week ago, and Dixon reversed the finishing order today by winning at World Wide Technology Raceway outside of St. Louis.

Sato held Dixon at bay last Sunday for his second Indy 500 win in four years. Dixon had 20 laps to chase Sato, but a yellow flag ended the race.

At Gateway, Dixon took the lead by first beating Pato O’Ward in the pits and then pedaling forward as Sato made his stop with 25 laps remaining. Sato returned to the track in third place, passed O’Ward with a bold outward move, and then set his sights on Dixon.

Dixon had 20 laps to navigate the turn traffic while keeping Sato at bay. “Sato was getting strong at the end,” Dixon said. “I didn’t realize how strong he was coming. We were in reserve mode to search for the engine and he was coming with a steam head.”

Dixon beat Sato by 0.1404 seconds for his fourth win of the season and 50 overall and praised his Chip Ganassi Racing team.

The New Zealander led 111 of 200 laps at Indy, but was unable to catch up with Sato in the final laps before the yellow flag froze the field.

“Last week in Indianapolis was a bit boring,” Dixon admitted. Dixon moved within two victories of Mario Andretti on IndyCar’s win list. Andretti is second with 52; AJ Foyt is the leader with 67 years. “I am very lucky and very lucky,” said the 40-year-old New Zealander.

“It’s not just me, it’s the team. I’m very fortunate to work with these guys. It’s them. Fifty is a great number and I’d like to think there are 50 more.” Dixon holds a 117-point lead in the IndyCar Championship Standings as he pursues a fifth title. IndyCar races again Sunday at Gateway.

“That was a Scott Dixon textbook race. Easy, one at a time, here, there, nothing fancy,” said the owner of the winning team, Ganassi. Sato finished second with a 1-2 sweep for Honda. O’Ward, the highest-scoring rookie in the 500 last week, was third for Arrow McLaren SP in a Chevrolet. O’Ward led 94 laps, the most of the race, moved to the front on lap 68 and held it until he and Dixon pitted on lap 162.

“Towards the end, Dixon pitted us,” O’Ward said. “We didn’t have enough pace to get up and overtake him. He just couldn’t keep up.” Sato was attempting to become the first driver since Arie Luyendyk in 1997 to win the race immediately after the Indy 500.

“Since last week we’ve had a lot of momentum,” said Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Sato. “The guys did a fantastic job two weeks in a row, I’m very proud of them.”

Sato also used a bold outside pass on O’Ward and although the cars never touched, O’Ward initially thought there was contact, the proximity made O’Ward move. “It was not risky at all,” Sato said.

“We were able to try because Dixon was running away. We had cooler tires and I think they helped. I gave him plenty of room. It was tight.” The race got off to a rocky start with a multi-car accident when the green flag was flown. Alex Palou and Oliver Askew, both rookies, were penalized by IndyCar for triggering a crash that knocked out three Andretti Autosport cars.

Alexander Rossi, still seeking his first win of the season in a horrible year for the perennial title contender, reunited with his teammates Marco Andretti and Zach Veach. It also ended the race for Ed Carpenter and Simon Pagenaud eventually had to retire with damage to his car.

“I was driving straight. I don’t know what you want me to say,” said Rossi, who compared the incident to an iRacing video run.