By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
With time left in his push-to-pass bank, Scott Dixon fell victim to Simon Pagenaud – with no push-to-pass time left – in the closing laps to finish second for the third straight time in the INDYCAR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Dixon started the race on the outside pole position. When the green flag unfurled and the field worked into Turn One, Dixon fell to third position as Jack Harvey passed him on the start.
Despite losing one position at the start, Dixon was able to school teammate Felix Rosenqvist and Harvey on Lap 16. For the veteran driver, the chance for the win or finishing midpack depended on when impending wet weather would hit.
Luckily, Dixon’s pit strategy paid off when the full course caution flew for Helio Castroneves and those who had pitted on Lap 13 pitted laps prior.
When the race restarted, Dixon was able to distance himself from the rest of the field; however, Pagenaud was setting a blistering pace after starting in the sixth position.
With six laps remaining, Pagenaud was able to pass Jack Harvey for second position with his eyes on Dixon. With two laps remaining and a mistake by Dixon, Pagenaud was able to pass Dixon in Turn Nine to give the veteran driver a second place finish.
“It was generally a pretty good day,” he said. “We had some good pace. The start was a little tricky, kind of misjudged it with Felix, and actually the 60 car had a great start. So kind of just fought in line there and was seeing how it was going to play out. The restart we got that really good jump, got both the 60 and the 10, kind of set us out.
“Conditions were really tricky all day, but a lot of fun actually. I think it’s always hard to tell with a circuit like this, especially after the kind of sealant they put on some of the portions of the oval, how tough it’s going to be once you start to get some moisture on there. But all in all, the Firestone red tires, I never got to the blacks, had a ton of grip and it was a lot of fun.”
Despite finishing second for the third time in the grand prix, Dixon is moving on with his eyes set on the Indianapolis 500.
“I’ve been part of many of these, so you’ve got to take them,” he said. “There’s days where you get a win and you never really knew it was coming. So you’ve got to take the highs with the lows, but I think still finishing second and having a fairly dominant day is something to be proud of.
“But yeah, again, these wins are harder and harder to get, so you can see even the expression with Simon after getting that victory, it’s hard to get them here right now, and it’s good to see him back in Victory Lane. But yeah, it’s — I don’t know, you just roll with it, man. You kind of roll on both sides, and if you keep knocking on the door, eventually it’s going to open.”
Dixon finds himself second in the points standings just six points behind leader Josef Newgarden.