Scott Dixon finished this morning’s IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio in second, while Scott McLaughlin came home fifth, and Marcus Armstrong charged from 18th on the grid to ninth.
Championship leader Alex Palou took his third consecutive win, taking control of proceedings over his second stint to beat Dixon to the flag by 5 seconds. Will Power rounded out the podium places, while Christian Lundgaard was fourth.
Pole-sitter Colton Herta had led the field from green, holding the lead over fellow front-row starter Graham Rahal off the start as Kyle Kirkwood held on to third over Palou.
Marcus Ericsson and Felix Rosenqvist ran into trouble at Turn6, the former going up and over his compatriot and falling heavily, resulting in a damaged suspension. Ericsson required lengthy repairs following the impact, while Rosenqvist lost a lap and had a tyre mark over his aeroscreen following the incident.
The race resumed on Lap 6 following a caution, with Pato O’Ward quickly making up ground from the rear of the field to move to 14th by Lap 10 before pitting into clear air.
It wasn’t until Lap 32 that Dixon began moving forward, jumping to third following a pit stop after Palou had taken the lead over Herta on Lap 30 in similar circumstances.
Dixon quickly made up ground on Herta, who remained out as Palou and the Kiwi boxed on Lap 54. Herta followed a lap later from the lead, locking up and copping a pit lane speeding penalty after complaining his limiter was not working.
Up front, Palou now had a six-second lead which remained unchallenged until the chequered flag. Dixon was 13 seconds clear of third-placed Power.
McLaughlin finished 1.5 seconds off fourth place and 7 seconds ahead of sixth-placed David Malukas, while Rahal dropped to seventh following a slow tyre change on his final stop.
O’Ward was rewarded for a resilient drive for eighth, one spot ahead of Armstrong. Both had made successful passes on Alexander Rossi as the race neared its conclusion, leaving him to finish 10th. Herta was 11th following his drive-through, while Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden was 12th and Romain Grosjean 13th.
Ninth for Armstrong is another excellent result for the rookie after having charged forward from 18th on the grid, finishing well ahead of the other rookies and cementing his spot atop the leaderboard of the new drivers.
Dixon moves to second in the championship standings as a result of his podium; however, Palou extends his lead to 110 points as he threatens to run away with the title.
McLaughlin retains sixth while Armstrong moves to 17th overall and extends his lead in the rookie championship to 35 points, despite not running on ovals.
IndyCar returns in two weeks for the Honda Indy Toronto, an 85-lap, 151.81-mile race over the streets of Toronto, which Dixon won last year.
