Scott McLaughlin’s chances of a second IndyCar victory were spoiled by a spin while leading behind the safety car.
The Kiwi had put himself into the race lead with a bold strategy call to fit slick tyres for the run home on a wet but drying Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
However, a strange spin while under caution sent McLaughlin from the lead to fifth.
Then, when the race did go green, McLaughlin spun once more.
Ultimately, the gamble to run slick tyres on a damp track didn’t pay off and McLaughlin later pitted for the wet weather rubber
He would finish 18th.
Scott Dixon’s race was equally bizarre. He ran out of fuel in the pitlane and had to be pushed back to the box by his crew.
On top of that, Dixon narrowly avoided several incidents from cars spinning on the wet track.
Through all the chaos he finished P10.
Even so, Dixon knows more is needed if he is to challenge for this year’s championship.
“It’s just a different car every time you go out, so we’re trying to adjust for that and find the best balance,” he said.
“It sucks right now. We’ve got to sort it out.”
Colton Herta survived the rain to win his first race of the year. He finished ahead of Simon Pagenaud and polesitter Will Power.
IndyCar now continues preparation for the Indy 500 at the end of May.
Race Results:
- Colton Herta
- Simon Pagenaud
- Will Power
- Marcus Ericsson
- Conor Daly
- Felix Rosenqvist
- Callum Ilott
- Takuma Sato
- Christian Lundgaard
- Scott Dixon
- Alexander Rossi
- David Malukas
- Jack Harvey
- Helio Castroneves
- Tatiana Calderon
- Graham Rahal
- Pato O’Ward
- Scott McLaughlin
- Romain Grosjean
- Alex Palou
- Devlin DeFrancesco
- Jimmie Johnson
- Rinus Veekay
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Josef Newgarden
- Kyle Kirkwood
- Dalton Kellet