Scott Dixon has tied with Mario Andretti for second in all-time IndyCar wins after winning this morning’s Honda Indy Toronto, the 52nd win of his career.
After qualifying second for the 85 lap event, Dixon ran with the front runners all race and led pole-sitter Colton Herta when a safety car brought the field together with 18 laps to go. Following the restart, the CGR racer pulled away to lead by over two seconds, which Herta closed in on on the concluding laps.
The Kiwi managed to hold on for line honors, with Herta finishing less than a second behind and the McLaren of Felix Rosenqvist rounding out the top three.
The victory continues Dixon’s record of winning a race in each of the last 18 seasons, and concludes a 22 race winless streak, with his last victory at Texas in Round 3 of last years proceedings. Now second equal on the all-time win list, he only trails AJ Foyt who has 67 wins in comparison to Dixon and Andretti’s 52.
This was the fourth career win in Toronto for the IndyCar veteran, who turns 42 on Friday, in the first race outside of the United States since pre-pandemic days.
Fellow Kiwi Scott McLaughlin held on for an impressive ninth place following on from his win at Mid-Ohio last time out, which sees him drop one place in the championship standings to sit seventh. Dixon’s win moves him up into the battle for the title, where he sits fourth, 44 points behind championship leader Marcus Ericsson.
Ericsson finished the Toronto race in fifth place, the best of the drivers ahead of Dixon in current standings.
Fresh from the controversy surrounding his contract for 2023, fellow CGR racer Alex Palou finished an impressive sixth despite starting in 22nd after mechanical issues plagued his car in qualifying.
IndyCar heads back to oval tracks next weekend, with the HyVeeDeals.com 250 seeing drivers complete 250 laps around the short .875-mile long tri-oval.
Good results here for Dixon and McLaughlin will see them move up further in the standings, with the race beginning next Monday at 8am New Zealand time.
