IndyCar: Dixon wins Nashville GP crashfest

Ganassi Honda veteran Scott Dixon survived another IndyCar crashfest to win the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on the washboard streets of Nashville, TN.

There were so many crashes in the race, it looked like a rank amateur event.

Pace car driver Oriol Servia led the most laps – 36 of 80 – that should tell you all you need to know. Does he get the 2 points for leading the most laps?

The race went red with 4 laps to go when Penske driver Josef Newgarden ran Romain Grosjean into a concrete wall in Turn 9.

After the cleanup, the race went green with 1.5 laps to go and Dixon got just enough jump at the front to hold the lead.

Both Dixon and McLaughlin had similar amounts of push-to-pass left for the restart, so this would come down to a 1.5-lap duel

Dixon timed the restart perfectly and built a small gap on McLaughlin.

As the two New Zealand drivers marched around the circuit for the final time, McLaughlin wasn’t close enough to Dixon to slingshot past him on the bridge. Dixon bobbled slightly on the final corner before the checkered, but McLaughlin couldn’t sneak past.

“We were worried about him because I knew he would take chances,” Dixon said of McLaughlin. “He kind of has to with the standings at the moment. He was super fast, as well. He had fresh tires, too. I was a sitting duck. If there had been a lap or two more, it would have been really tough to do.”

McLaughlin said: “We were alongside there across the finish line. But man, we were 16th on that last pit exchange and had an awesome restart, and then the car was fast. Just fell short at the end. Congrats to Scotty. Always dreamed of racing him to the finish. That was a proper duel.”

Dixon’s Ganassi teammate Alex Palou grabbed the final podium finish with a broken front wing.

Andretti Autosport drivers Alexander Rossi and Colton Herta rounded out the top-5, both of whom had more than a couple wheel banging situations.

It was Dixon’s 53rd race win, putting him one ahead of Mario Andretti for 2nd place. Dixon is the first driver to take sole possession of second place on the all-time wins list since July 1, 1984, when Mario Andretti won his 37th INDYCAR SERIES race at the Meadowlands to break a tie with Al Unser Sr.

2014 series champion Will Power, who finished 11th in his damaged No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, now leads Dixon by six points. 2022 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Marcus Ericsson, who finished 14th in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, is 12 points behind Power in third.

Nashville-area native Josef Newgarden, who finished sixth in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, is 22 points behind Power in fourth. And Palou is hanging tough in his effort for a second straight title, 33 points behind Power in fifth.

Note: There is drama in tech with Colton Herta’s car. Apparently the officials have made the team tear down the car, and allegedly have already confiscated at least one part.

Race Results

Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 79.744 mph
Time of Race: 2:06:24.2439
Margin of victory: 0.1067 of a second
Cautions: 8 for 36 laps
Lead changes: 3 among 4 drivers

Lap Leaders:
McLaughlin 1 – 22
Palou 23 – 53
Newgarden 54 – 65
Dixon 66 – 80

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings:
Power 450, Dixon 444, Ericsson 438, Newgarden 428, Palou 417, McLaughlin 392, O’Ward 391, Rossi 330, Rosenqvist 325, Herta 315, VeeKay 300, Pagenaud 284, Rahal 281, Grosjean 273, Lundgaard 272, Daly 249, Malukas 231, Castroneves 224, Sato 208, Ilott 181, Johnson 178, Harvey 178, DeFrancesco 159, Kirkwood 144, Kellett 108, Tony Kanaan 78, Santino Ferrucci 71, Ed Carpenter 67, Tatiana Calderon 58, JR Hildebrand 53, Juan Pablo Montoya 44, De Silvestro 26, Marco Andretti 17, Sage Karam 14, Stefan Wilson 10