New Zealand’s Scott Dixon has finished fifth in this morning’s IndyCar PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway, one spot to the good over compatriot Scott McLaughlin.
A tense race was won by Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden under caution, with Pato O’Ward finishing second and Alex Palous keeping third.
It was a solid showing from both Kiwis in the opening oval race of the season, Dixon taking the lead on Lap 1 from his front row start while McLaughlin quickly went about gaining places from 15th on the grid.
Newgarden and Dixon were involved in a feisty opening battle for the lead, which changed hands twice before the eventual race winner pulled clear.
O’Ward also quickly moved forward, overtaking the Kiwi for second on Lap 9 of 250.
The first of several cautions was required on Lap 45 when Chip Ganassi’s oval specialist Takuma Sato went high at Turn 2 and hit the outside wall, bouncing across to the inside and striking that wall front-on.
This triggered a flurry of pit stops which saw Alexander Rossi released into the path of Kyle Kirkwood, both cars making contact and sustaining damage. Rossi served a drive-through for the incident, which also required him to undergo suspension repairs.
Dixon re-emerged in the top five from his stop, while McLaughlin was one of the biggest movers and up to eighth.
Romain Grosjean moved past Dixon off the Lap 60 restart to put the Kiwi fifth to battle Felix Rosenqvist and McLaughlin, who was now seventh.
Grosjean was able to pass Alex Palou on Lap 76, Dixon following a lap later to move to fourth.
The next round of stops saw Newgarden retain his lead over O’Ward, Grosjean, Dixon and Palou, respectively, while McLaughlin gained another place to sit sixth.
At the halfway point O’Ward, who had caught the race leader, took the lead and put down some fast laps, even putting a lap over the now-fifth Dixon, who Palou had recently passed.
Colton Herta had also found a way past McLaughlin to sit sixth.
The third round of stops also changed the running order, O’Ward retaining his lead over Newgarden, Palou, Grosjean and Dixon, who now had a quick David Malukas on his tail.
Rosenqvist also emerged ahead of McLaughlin but quickly triggered a caution by hitting the wall at Turn 4, forcing him out.
Teams tried to stretch their final stop out under the Safety Car conditions, with O’Ward retaining the lead by not taking as much fuel as Newgarden. Malukas also moved up to second, with Newgarden relegated to third.
Palou, Grosjean and Herta all emerged from the lane ahead of Dixon, the Kiwi now sitting seventh with 65 laps remaining.
Newgarden took the restart well up front, passing lapped traffic to run side-by-side with the race leader. Palou jumped on their battle to take the lead.
Yet another caution was required at this point, Sting Ray Robb hitting the outside wall at Turn 2 and rebounding into the inside wall, similar to what had happened to Sato early in the race.
Palou remained out under caution as other front-runners boxed to eliminate fuel worries, Grosjean emerging in second, ahead of Herta, Dixon, O’Ward, Newgarden, McLaughlin and Malukas, respectively.
The race resumed with 30 laps remaining, Grosjean quickly taking the lead only for a charging O’Ward to pass both of them, followed by Newgarden.
A fifth caution was required shortly after, after Devlin DeFrancesco struck the wall and ran into the path of Graham Rahal, both sustaining significant damage and retiring.
Newgarden, Dixon and Grosjean all boxed, with the Kiwi returning in seventh, with McLaughlin one spot ahead.
Lap 238 brought about the green flag, with just 12 laps remaining to determine the race winner. Palou pounced on O’Ward to take a brief lead, only for Newgarden to work towards the front and take the top spot just four laps later.
O’Ward was able to overtake Palou for second and began a tight battle with Newgarden for the race lead, with Dixon now sixth and McLaughlin seventh.
It wasn’t to be for Grosjean, the former Formula 1 driver crashing for the second race in a row from a good position, striking the outside wall and rebounding to the inside.
This brought out the final caution, which saw Newgarden win over O’Ward and Palou. Malukas was fourth at this point, with Dixon fifth and McLaughlin sixth.
The results see Dixon retain third in the championship and moves McLaughlin into the top 10, in eighth.
IndyCar next returns in a fortnight with the Grand Prix of Long Beach, the street course also seeing New Zealander Marcus Armstrong return to action for CGR.
