Talking the business of sports
Scott Dixon needed all of his veteran wiles and racecraft to hold off a charging Colton Herta at Exhibition Place to win the Honda Indy Toronto, breaking through for his first win on the season and 52nd of his career to tie Mario Andretti for second most in the series. A.J. Foyt is the all-time wins leader with 67.
"We struggled a little on the 'reds'," said Dixon, a six-time series champion. "It was a tough drive. It is great to end that [no wins] streak, fantastic. Back in the winner's circle."
The grid was a reflection of Indy's past, present and future. Behind Dixon and Herta was Felix Rosenqvist in third, followed by Graham Rahal in fourth (his best finish on the season), current series points leader Marcus Ericsson and series defending champion Alex Palou in a race that featured a little bit of everything.
There was plenty of strategy calls playing out, as witnessed by Rahal and Palou, who both started deep in the field. There was plenty of passing, particularly at the mid-pack of the field, and there were plenty of bent cars and bruised egos over the 85 laps at the 11-turn, 1.786-mile temporary street circuit.
In what turned into a fuel-saving race, race telemetry became spotty for all the teams, making it mostly guesswork as to whether the cars had enough left to finish, or if they had more and could challenge for positions.
In the end, Herta's rear tires were too worn for him to really challenge, and it was doing all he could to hold off Rosenqvist, who was right on his gearbox was told he was free to attack for position, which could have been a bit of a psychological ploy by the Arrow McLaren SP team to rattle Herta into making a mistake.
"We had to fight really hard for this," Rosenqvist said. "We took our opportunities to move forward. First podium with the team."
The Andretti Autosport driver was able to block out the channel, focus on his car, and brought him home in second.
"Felix was really fast, and he looked like if there were a few more laps he would have gotten us," Herta said. "It's good to be back on the podium. Hopefully we can continue on with consistency. We need to make this a little more regular."
All that only allowed Dixon to motor away from the two, making career-win 52 and a bit of history, all from a nice Sunday cruise at the finish.
"It's fantastic that we still have A.J. and Mario in the pits, that we can still talk to them," Dixon said. "I'm hoping this is the start of a roll."
Utmost respect for my friend @scottdixon9 and truly happy to congratulate him on 52 wins. Also congratulate his team because nobody does it alone. I hope this is just a step on your continuing journey. Well done. @IndyCaronNBC
52 wins in #INDYCAR and 4 wins in the 6ix. All in a days work for the Ice Man, @scottdixon9 #IndyTO // @hondaindy pic.twitter.com/5sk0irv6VI
From one legend to another. 🐐 @MarioAndretti has a message for @scottdixon9 and @CGRTeams after Dixon tied him on the all-time @INDYCAR wins list. pic.twitter.com/FzL6mGmLAT
History in the @hondaindy as @ScottDixon9 wins to tie @MarioAndretti for second on the @IndyCar win list. https://t.co/dbIWqJGbHJ
HISTORY MADE!@scottdixon9 ties @MarioAndretti on the all-time wins list in @INDYCAR. He now only trails A.J. Foyt, who has 67. pic.twitter.com/yp66Nc7USp
HISTORY! RETWEET to congratulate @scottdixon9 on tying @MarioAndretti for second on the all-time @INDYCAR wins list! pic.twitter.com/Bo02uP5Esj
It's Dixon for the race win, his first this season and 52nd of his career, followed by Herta, Rosenqvist, Rahal and Ericsson.
That win moves Dixon into a tie for career wins with Mario Andretti.
RETWEET to congratulate @scottdixon9! 🏁 He WINS the @hondaindy Toronto and ties @MarioAndretti for second on the all-time wins list with 52! #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/dAl5YXYdOI
Legendary Drive.@scottdixon9 wins the #IndyTO and ties @MarioAndretti for second on the all-time INDYCAR wins list with 52.#INDYCAR // @hondaindy // @CGRTeams pic.twitter.com/kxnLuLOdSg
Getting close… pic.twitter.com/fP575ksKxt
Love the @IndyCar broadcast on @peacockTV . Great and accurate information from the boys @Hinchtown @townsendbell @KevinLee23
Behind Rahal, Ericsson is running fifth after not being in the top 10 pretty much the entire race. Right behind Ericsson is defending series champion Alex Palou, who also started deep in the field, and Simon Pagenaud.
Will this be a fuel-saving race now? Tim Cindric, who calls strategy for Newgarden at Team Penske, says they got all the fuel they needed on that past start despite the struggles they had.
Back to green-green-green at Lap 67 and Dixon leads the field around followed by Herta, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin and Rahal, who makes a move and gets past McLaughlin and into fourth.
That hands the race lead over to Dixon followed by Herta, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin and Rahal.
VeeKay will pit under the yellow at Lap 61, taking on the soft "reds" and gets a turn on the wing. He comes back out behind Power and in 15th race.
Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Kirkwood make contact! Kirkwood saw a hole, and then it closed. #INDYCAR 📺 : @PeacockTV pic.twitter.com/ut5KQrcRYt
Yellow flag as @KKirkwoodRacing @JimmieJohnson collide.#indyto #hondaindy #toronto
Intense teammate battle with @AlexPalou and @Ericsson_Marcus on the restart. WATCH LIVE: 🦚: @PeacockTV 📲: INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA - https://t.co/vyuISIyifv#INDYCAR // #IndyTO pic.twitter.com/lePSAIU6fB
Green flag at Lap 59 and the field is strung out on the restart. VeeKay is the leader followed by Dixon, Herta, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin, and that didn't last very long as the yellow is out once again with the coming together of Johnson and Kyle Kirkwood.
Cautions breed cautions. It likely won't be the last one we see.
Lap 57: the yellow flag is out for track conditions in turn 1. WATCH LIVE: 🦚: @PeacockTV#INDYCAR // #IndyTO
Yellow has come out for track debris, which looks like chunks of concrete. So it appears the track surface is taking a beating here, too.
WILD. Future McLaren driver Alexander Rossi and current McLaren driver Felix Rosenqvist make contact, and Rossi hits the wall! #INDYCAR 📺 : @peacockTV 💻 : https://t.co/dQFdTWkQMq pic.twitter.com/FhWcdTpE6T
In so many races, Herta has lost his composure in situations such as these, but right now he is looking composed and on the attack on Dixon in third.
Pit lane: CROWDED. WATCH LIVE: 🦚: @PeacockTV 📲: INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA - https://t.co/vyuISIyifv#INDYCAR // #IndyTO pic.twitter.com/APfrFwCBOz
A pit lane speed violation has dropped Grosjean all the way back to 22nd.
Lap 50 and VeeKay, on "reds," is the leader, followed by Daly, Dixon, Herta and Rosenqvist, all on "blacks."
Field pitting at Lap 37, with VeeKay and Daly staying out and running 1-2. Newgarden looks to have not pitted quite close enough and there is a problem getting the fuel line locked in, but they manage it. Question is: Did they get enough fuel loaded to make the rest of the race?
"He just shoved me off."@FRosenqvist and @AlexanderRossi collide while battling for P4. WATCH LIVE: 🦚: @PeacockTV 📲: INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA - https://t.co/vyuISIyifv#INDYCAR // #IndyTO pic.twitter.com/HBKZORmwQh
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