Scott Dixon recovered from a disappointing qualifying result of 15th to finish on the podium in a dramatic IndyCar race on the Streets of Toronto.
Andretti Global’s Colton Herta led 81 of the 85 laps to lead home teammate Kyle Kirkwood in a race that featured multiple cautions and a 20-minute red flag for a large multi-car collision that saw Santino Ferrucci flip into the catch fence with 13 laps remaining.
Dixon finished third, ahead of teammates Alex Palou and Marcus Armstrong, who also worked their way forward from the mid-field for top-five results.
Scott McLaughlin was taken out by his own teammate, Will Power, in the closing stages. The contact sent the #3 Penske into the Turn 5 wall and destroyed his front right.
The Kiwi Iowa race-winner waited for Power to pass the spot a lap later under caution and clapped his hands in disapproval as he went by. Power received a drive-through penalty for the contact.
A debuting Hunter McElrea joined McLaughlin as one of 12 non-finishers, retiring on Lap 57.
The chaos in Toronto was immediate from the green flag.
Marcus Ericsson sent Christian Rasmussen into the outside wall moments after Herta led the field to green. Christian Lundgaard came together with Pato O’Ward as he attempted to avoid the incident, with Ferrucci then collected by the McLaren and sent into the wall.
Rasmussen was the race’s first retirement, while Ferrucci continued after a front-wing change.
Dixon and Agustin Canapino came together at Turn 4 following the Lap 4 restart, sending the #78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet hard into the wall. The incident was investigated, but no action was taken.
The second restart followed on Lap 8, and Herta quickly built a sizable advantage over his teammate over the following tours. McLaughlin dropped from third to fifth, albeit as the only front-runner on alternate tyres. The Kiwi stopped on Lap 17 to change to primaries.
Palou climbed from 18th to 12th early before stopping on Lap 25, and Power followed suit from sixth the following lap.
Herta and Kirkwood stopped from first and second on Lap 33, which elevated Dixon to the lead. In classic Dixon fashion, the six-time IndyCar Champion extended his fuel mileage until Lap 37 before stopping.
Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden found trouble in the second round of stops on Lap 53 as his team battled to change his right rear, dropping him from third to tenth.
Dixon returned to the front briefly on Lap 54 when Herta, Kirkwood and Felix Rosenqvist stopped. After coming in on Lap 55, he was quickly back to third, only 2.8 seconds off the lead.
The next caution came on Lap 68 when rookie Kyffin Simpson found the tyre barrier at Turn 8.
Herta led the field back to green, while Kirkwood retained second ahead of Dixon.
The significant incident with 13 laps to go was triggered when O’Ward spun at Turn 1. Marcus Ericsson hit the wall to avoid making contact with the McLaren, but Pietro Fittipaldi and Ferrucci were unsighted and ran into the stricken car.
Ferrucci was launched high on contact, flying into the catch fence and landing upside down. A trailing Nolan Siegel and Toby Sowery were also involved in the collision.
After a 20-minute delay, Herta led the field back to green with nine laps remaining.
The next caution followed shortly after, however, with Power muscling his teammate McLaughlin into the Turn 5 barriers.
Herta led the field back to green for a five-lap sprint to the line and held the lead until the chequered flag for his first win since May 2022.
Kirkwood followed 0.3469s behind, 0.6211s to the good of Dixon.
Palou and Armstrong also ran tidy races amongst the chaos to complete the top five.
With five races remaining in 2024, Palou now has a 49-point advantage over Power in the standings. Dixon is third, four points behind the Australian.
Herta’s victory elevates him to fourth, while McLaughlin is sixth, 83 points off Palou.
Armstrong’s third top-five of 2024 elevates him to 14th in the standings. He sits only 28 points outside the top ten as the IndyCar Series reaches the business end of the season.
IndyCar takes an extended break over the Olympics and returns at World Wide Technology Raceway in Illinois on August 17.
Header Image: Penske Entertainment: Joe Skibinski
