In a race dictated by strategy, Scott Dixon, Marcus Armstrong, and Scott McLaughlin had to work hard and keep clean while chaos unfolded around them.
The race got off to a relatively stagnant start but was turned on its head when Dennis Hauger spun and brought out the first caution. He miraculously managed to keep it out of the wall, and the race resumed a few laps later.
Another caution soon came out after Alex Palou and Rinus Veekay got into each other, with Veekay putting Palou in the wall on lap 24. Palou’s DNF meant the race would finish with a new championship leader, with it being the first time since mid 2024 that the leader was not Palou. Green flag racing resumed on lap 32 with McLaughlin in fifth, Armstrong in eighth and Dixon in fifteenth.
Dixon showed his experience with some great high line moves on the restart. With so much rubber on track from NASCAR’s running, drivers were able to make use of the extra grip by taking unconventional lines.
By lap 50 McLaughlin was still in fifth. Armstrong had fallen to ninth, and Dixon had moved up to thirteenth. McLaughlin got passed by Christian Rasmussen on lap 63 to move back to sixth, where it didn’t look like he had the pace of his teammates, who ran one-two.
McLaughlin pitted a few laps earlier than his teammates and emerged just behind them. Malukas and Newgarden got too close for comfort and made slight contact on lap 77, and Newgarden took the race lead in a huge high-line move.
Both on alternate strategies, Armstrong headed into the lane on lap 88, with Dixon coming in ten laps later on lap 98.
With issues with the timing graphics throughout the race, there was no information where the Kiwi trio were sitting for lengthy periods of time. When the graphics reappeared on lap 130, McLaughlin was in sixteenth after a pitstop. Dixon and Armstrong sat in second and third, trying to extend their stints on the alternate strategy.
A caution period quickly came out after Louis Foster drove high into the wall. This brought both Dixon and Armstrong in, where Dixon grabbed four fresh tyres. By running the alternate strategy, Dixon was elevated to third. A bold Rasmussen got into the left rear of Dixon while trying to make a move, and got his front wing right into the side of Dixon’s tyre. Dixon was lucky to escape without a puncture and managed to hold onto third.
On lap 175, Rasmussen was able to get the low line and get past Dixon. This left Dixon in fourth, Armstrong in fifth, and McLaughlin in eleventh.
When Armstrong pitted on lap 194 he was unlucky to have wheel gun issues on his right rear. This slowed his stop down, and he emerged out of the lane in ninth.
Lap 208 brought chaos and another full-course caution as Will Power and Rasmussen got together, with Power suffering from a flat right rear tyre and Rasmussen hitting the wall. Both continued with minimal damage, although Rasmussen reported that something didn’t feel right.
McLaughlin cycled into the lane on lap 213 for a fresh set of tyres, and emerged in twelfth.
When the race restarted on lap 219, Dixon was the highest-placed Kiwi in fourth, just ahead of Armstrong in fifth. Both drivers would likely need another stop to get to the end. McLaughlin sat in twelfth after his earlier stop and looked to move forward quickly after the restart.
Armstrong quickly got past Dixon when the green flag dropped, and McLaughlin moved up into the top 10. Dixon and Armstrong cycled back through the field with Armstrong now the lead Kiwi in sixth.
Kyle Kirkwood managed to get past leader Rasmussen with 9 to go, but had no time to breathe as Newgarden hunted him down, where he managed to get past him with six laps to go to take the win.
Armstrong was the first Kiwi home in fifth, comfortably ahead of Dixon in seventh and McLaughlin in eighth. It will be considered a race of what could have been for McLaughlin, with his two Team Penske teammates finishing on the podium.
McLaughlin now sits third in the championship standings, 12 points behind leader Newgarden.
INDYCAR kicks off again on the 14th March for the Grand Prix of Arlington, with Practice 1 starting at 9am NZST.
