After a tricky qualifying session, it has been a mixed race for the Kiwi trio of Scott McLaughlin, Scott Dixon, and Marcus Armstrong.
On the start, Rosenqvist immediately tucked to the inside, while Dixon made moves into Turn 1. He was able to move into eighth, while McLaughlin moved into eleventh and Armstrong stayed in nineteenth.
Out front, the INDY500 champion of Rosenqvist started to pull away from second place. Meanwhile, Marcus Ericsson managed to get past Alex Palou, making the most of the soft tyre offset. Dixon and McLaughlin both were on soft tyres at this stage,
The first full course caution came out on lap seven as Graham Rahal went off and hit the tyre wall on the last turn, but was able to keep the car going and was able to drive out.
The race resumed on lap nine, and McLaughlin was able to move up to ninth. Down the order, Christian Lundgaard was on a tear, and sat in thirteenth after starting twenty-fifth.
Surprise started to show about how drivers could extend the red soft tyre. By lap twenty-five, Rosenqvist still held the lead, over Ericsson, Palou, Will power, and Rinus Veekay.
Ericsson was the first front-runner to head into the lane, and Dixon followed on the same lap. McLaughlin came in on lap twenty-seven, also electing for a new set of soft tyres. McLaughlin was able to jump Dixon after the first pit cycle, with both drivers down the order while waiting for others to pit.
Ericsson went off through the Turn 1 run off while trying to pass Sting Ray Robb, allowing Rosenqvist to have more breathing room out front.
Meanwhile, Palou was able to stay out a lap longer than Rosenqvist, which allowed the current champion to jump the INDY500 winner. At the same time, Armstrong started to communicate that his engine was having issues, as he headed into the lane to retire – making it his third engine failure in four races.
Dixon was soon passed by Lundgaard, moving the Kiwi down to thirteenth. Out front, Palou started to pull away, holding a five second lead on lap fourty. McLaughlin, on softs, sat in seventh – while Dixon, on hards, sat in tenth.
By lap fifty, Palou had extended his lead to over seven seconds. Meanwhile, McLaughlin sat in sixth place whole Dixon held tenth.
McLaughlin headed back into the lane on lap fifty-six, a lap after Dixon.
The gap between Palou and Rosenqvist sat at three and a half seconds on lap seventy. McLaughlin sat three seconds behind Ericsson in seventh, while Dixon had fallen to fifteenth on strategy.
The gap soon shrunk to a second as Rosenqvist was called into the lane. Traffic ahead allowed Power to get closer to the leaders, as the Australian sat five and a half seconds off the leader.
Palou was called in a lap later for scuffed hard tyres, as McLaughlin headed in as well.
Dixon was called into the lane for his final stop on lap eighty-six, as Power did the same. However, Power elected to stay out, and soon encountered traffic as Robb refused to yield.
With fifteen to go, McLaughlin sat in seventh while Dixon remained down the order in fourteenth.
However, with ten to go, it looked clear that Palou would be able to cruise home, and he did just that to finish comfortably ahead of Rosenqvist and Power.
McLaughlin finished in seventh, while Dixon came home in fourteenth.
INDYCAR will now head to Canada for the new Streets of Markham race in Ontario, with action kicking off on the 14th of August.
