IndyCar: Dixon Wins The Bommarito Automotive Group 500
Scott Dixon pulled off another win today after starting 16th in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, fending off Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward who finished 2nd.
The Kiwi started 16th in the Gallagher Grand Prix two weeks ago and won that race on strategy also.
Saving fuel while leading a race high 123 laps of 260 laps, Dixon won in decisive fashion, nearly doubling the track record for margin of victory (22.2256 seconds; previously 11.804 by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2000).
Dixon accomplished the feat despite starting the race in P16, which is the furthest back any race winner has started in track history.
He only needed three pit stops by saving fuel, one fewer than the other 27 drivers in the field.
“It’s all these guys, man,” Dixon said about his Chip Ganassi Racing crew. “Chip steers the ship. We took a pretty good grid penalty today. We had to go the alternate route, and it worked out perfectly. This team was perfect. They gave me the (fuel) number I needed to be getting, so massive thank you to everybody on the PNC Bank No. 9 crew.”
The Iceman captured his 55th career INDYCAR SERIES victory (2nd all-time), his 25th on an oval and his second at Gateway (2020 Race 1). With the win, Chip Ganassi Racing took home their 253rd overall victory.
David Malukas drove his HMD Trucking Honda to third place.
Arrow McLaren’s’ Alexander Rossi finished fourth and Scott McLaughlin rounded out the top five.
Alex Palou, the championship points leader, finished his day in seventh and now holds a 74-point advantage in the championship standings. Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 9 and No. 10 teams are now the only teams that remain in title contention with two races remaining.
Josef Newgarden ended his day when he his PPG Team Penske Chevrolet made slight contact with the wall in turn 2 on Lap 211.
There were only two yellow flags in the 260 lap race. The first yellow came out on Lap 1 when Ed Carpenter hit the back of AJ Foyt Racing’s rookie, Benjamin Pedersen, which ended the young rookies’ day early.
The second came on Lap 121 when Takuma Sato made contact with the wall in Turn 2. His Chip Ganassi teammate, Dixon, took advantage of pitting during the yellow flag.
Race Results
| Pos | No | Name | Laps | Behind | Gap | Led | ST | Engine | Points | Team |
| 1 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 260 | 0.000s | 0.000s | 123 | 16 | Honda | 491 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 2 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | 260 | 22.2256 | 22.2256 | 18 | 3 | Chevy | 429 | Arrow McLaren |
| 3 | 18 | David Malukas | 260 | 22.7279 | 0.5023 | 0 | 6 | Honda | 230 | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD |
| 4 | 7 | Alexander Rossi | 259 | 1 LAPS | 5.3962 | 4 | 7 | Chevy | 339 | Arrow McLaren |
| 5 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | 259 | 1 LAPS | 0.4488 | 0 | 10 | Chevy | 426 | Team Penske |
| 6 | 26 | Colton Herta | 259 | 1 LAPS | 0.2674 | 13 | 2 | Honda | 331 | Andretti Autosport w/Curb Agajanian |
| 7 | 10 | Alex Palou | 259 | 1 LAPS | 1.1927 | 0 | 14 | Honda | 565 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 8 | 6 | Felix Rosenqvist | 259 | 1 LAPS | 0.1670 | 0 | 4 | Chevy | 270 | Arrow McLaren |
| 9 | 12 | Will Power | 259 | 1 LAPS | 0.3370 | 4 | 8 | Chevy | 388 | Team Penske |
| 10 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | 259 | 1 LAPS | 0.5683 | 0 | 15 | Honda | 397 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 11 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | 259 | 1 LAPS | 2.7302 | 0 | 20 | Chevy | 237 | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 12 | 28 | Romain Grosjean | 259 | 1 LAPS | 1.4561 | 0 | 5 | Honda | 271 | Andretti Autosport |
| 13 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | 259 | 1 LAPS | 14.3309 | 0 | 26 | Chevy | 187 | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 14 | 20 | Ryan Hunter Reay | 259 | 1 LAPS | 0.7707 | 0 | 23 | Chevy | 102 | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 15 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | 259 | 1 LAPS | 0.3531 | 0 | 22 | Honda | 327 | Andretti Autosport |
| 16 | 30 | Conor Daly | 259 | 1 LAPS | 1.6446 | 0 | 11 | Honda | 134 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 17 | 45 | Christian Lundgaard | 259 | 1 LAPS | 0.2329 | 0 | 19 | Honda | 343 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 18 | 60 | Linus Lundqvist | 258 | 2 LAPS | 6.6808 | 0 | 12 | Honda | 35 | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 19 | 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 258 | 2 LAPS | 0.4806 | 0 | 18 | Honda | 156 | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport |
| 20 | 15 | Graham Rahal | 258 | 2 LAPS | 2.2266 | 0 | 21 | Honda | 251 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 21 | 51 | Sting Ray Robb | 258 | 2 LAPS | 12.1693 | 0 | 24 | Honda | 122 | Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR |
| 22 | 78 | Agustin Canapino | 258 | 2 LAPS | 5.0076 | 0 | 28 | Chevy | 159 | Juncos Hollinger Racing |
| 23 | 06 | Helio Castroneves | 257 | 3 LAPS | 4.8630 | 0 | 13 | Honda | 184 | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 24 | 33 | Ed Carpenter | 254 | 6 LAPS | 3 LAPS | 0 | 27 | Chevy | 46 | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 25 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | 210 | 1 LAPS | 0.1890 | 98 | 1 | Chevy | 440 | Team Penske |
| 26 | 11 | Takuma Sato | 119 | Contact | 17.2218 | 0 | 17 | Honda | 70 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 27 | 77 | Callum Ilott | 58 | Contact | 0.5866 | 0 | 9 | Chevy | 221 | Juncos Hollinger Racing |
| 28 | 55 | Benjamin Pedersen | Contact | 0 | 25 | Chevy | 107 | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
Lucille Dust reporting live from WWTR