MADISON, Ill — Scott Dixon did it again. Two weeks after getting collected in an opening lap incident in the Gallagher Grand Prix and turning it into a win, he had a cleaner, but vastly similar type of day.

Dixon ran the first stint long for Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 and as luck would have it, before he could pit for the second time, his teammate Takuma Sato found the Turn 2 wall on Lap 121.

Dixon would get to keep the lead as the other leaders hit pit lane with him on Lap 126. It was now his race to lose.

Dixon wouldn’t relinquish the lead outside of pitting for the final time on Lap 196 again. He’d reinherit the lead on Lap 221 and never look back en route to scoring his 55th career NTT INDYCAR SERIES win.

Pato O’Ward finished second with David Malukas, Alexander Rossi and Scott McLaughlin rounding out the top five in the 250 lap affair.

Here are my top five takeaways from the race.

Dixon A Master At Strategy, Title Hopes Still Going

Scott Dixon’s team elected to take the engine swap prior to this weekend’s race and while his No. 9 Dallara-Honda would be fresh, it would cost him nine spots at the start of Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500. So, despite qualifying 7th, he would drop to 16th once the green flag dropped.

For a track that rewards track position and having seen 8 of the last 9 winners come from the top five of the starting lineup, just getting into the top five would have felt like a win for Dixon.

But, this is Scott Dixon that we’re talking about here. While the task was a tall one in order to remain in the championship conversation leaving here, his bid for a record tying seventh championship still remains intact via a masterful drive and strategy employed by the Chip Ganassi Racing bunch.

By running the first stint longer than anyone else, Dixon pit for the first time on Lap 65. It was that moment that he’d go on the Firestone alternate tires.

Josef Newgarden led the first 62 laps before he pit. Pato O’Ward would pit one lap prior. The duo had a commanding strangle hold on the top two spots. The second stop, they flip flopped.

O’Ward this time blinked first on Lap 102. Newgarden followed one lap later. They’d have an intense battle for what they thought would be the lead when it cycled back. Dixon had other thoughts in mind.

They were going to run this stint long too. It was a worry for him, but they tried it out anyhow.

“Yeah, there was definitely some tense moments,” Dixon admitted. “I think probably the hardest part was the restart where we were leading, having to get a pretty high fuel number. We weren’t getting it. We were a ways off.

“But I knew we could kind of stress that kind of second through fifth pack, get them into a pretty vulnerable situation. I knew once we caught the back markers we’d be able to save and get beyond the fuel mileage that we needed to. It actually worked out perfectly. We were able to go further and beyond where we needed to.”

Dixon credited Honda for that fuel mileage while doing so.

“To get the car in the zone, obviously the pace was still good, we could maintain almost a flat-out pace, but get almost, I don’t know, one mpg higher than you would regularly,” Dixon continued.

“It was pretty special. Obviously a team effort. There were definitely times, especially when we got to the red tire as well, I don’t think it’s going to last. We kind of got stuck with a couple back markers there and lost touch with the 28 car at that point. Was feeling a little bit miserable.

“But we were still the only ones that were going to the windows that we needed to.”

Then, the caution flag for Takuma Sato finding the Turn 2 wall occurred and now Dixon was in control. Even so, Dixon felt like they were going to outsmart the field whether the caution flew or not.

“Luckily that caution helped us a little bit. It probably didn’t really matter,” he said. “I don’t think it mattered if we had that or not. I think the race would have continued on fine otherwise anyway.”

That’s because he was saving enough fuel to still make a 3 stopper work. Everyone else was on the 4 stop strategy and then with the caution, they were now on the same cycle as Dixon. They all hit pit road on Lap 126.

Dixon was still saving fuel. O’Ward and Newgarden didn’t feel like they’d make it on one more stop so they cut the final half of the race in half.

O’Ward would pit on Lap 164 then with 54 to go. Dixon only pit one more time on Lap 196.

“Yeah, Scott Dixon decided to do a Dixon today,” O’Ward said. “Whenever they told me, He’s going to try to make it without stopping again, the guy’s going to do it for sure. He just does it. He’s just Scott Dixon, you know? I feel like that’s what he’s best known for.

“He knows how to do it better than anybody with a great combination that he has with his team and car and everything. It’s a bummer that we weren’t even close to kind of even race him.”

Dixon would beat O’Ward by 22.2256-seconds as just he and Malukas were the only three cars on the lead lap at the end.

As a result of that and Alex Palou’s seventh place finish, Dixon cut another 27 points off the deficit and comes to Portland -74 from the lead.

“Yeah, a win always feels good,” Dixon said. “To go back to back feels fantastic, on two very different circuits. Again, I think it’s a testament to what this team has been able to do, all four cars throughout this year.

“It’s been definitely a bit of a trying year for us I think. As I mentioned before, not getting the results that the team deserved.

“I think what is special is going into the last two races, it can only be a Ganassi driver, which is very cool. I know that makes Chip very proud, and the hundred-plus employees that work at that place, as well.”

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Newgarden’s Mistake Eliminates Him

Josef Newgarden was the man to beat in Sunday’s race. Quickest in practice on Saturday, second fastest in practice but due to Scott McLaughlin’s grid penalty, he’d start on the pole. With being 4-for-4 on ovals in 2023 and having won each of the last 3 races at the World Wide Technology Raceway, it just felt like a battle for 2nd on back.

That’s exactly how it started too. Newgarden led the first 62 laps and 98 of the opening 102. However, he’d not lead again.

It was a cumulation of Dixon’s strategy and Newgarden overstepping the boundaries by pushing too hard to what saw him make a rare mistake in Turn 2 with 48 to go when he slapped the SAFER barrier with the right rear. It broke a toe link and he’d sit on pit lane for the final 40 laps watching his championship aspirations go up in smoke.

It was a difficult ask anyhow this weekend with entering 105 points down and effectively having to beat Alex Palou to the finish line in order to stay mathematically alive. With his oval prowess, a lot of pressure was riding on this race.

He just overstepped the boundaries and found the limit for which costs him a title now. He leaves St. Louis -125 now and eliminated from championship contention.

You would think since qualifying means a lot, the pole winner would have success. In fact, it’s the opposite in Gateway. There’s not been a pole winner here since Helio Castroneves did it in 2003. For Iowa, the pole winner is now 1-for-19.

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Alternate Tire Could Use More Deg, But Created Different Problem

The debut of the alternate tire on an oval did it’s job. The tire degraded faster than the primary tires which is exactly what it was asked to do. However, some drivers feel like it could degrade a little more if used next season.

“The tire was kind of interesting. It actually had a good amount of deg. But I think for next year, I think you’d almost want to double that deg,” said race winner Scott Dixon.

“I think having an alternate tire, you really kind of want it to – I know Firestone doesn’t want to do it because that’s the product they produce, they produce very good tires – but I think for falloff like we see at Iowa where you go from an 18-second lap all the way to 22s, 23s, you have good cars coming and going, people able to make changes throughout the race. I think that’s what they need to bring back here, a little bit more aggressive for next time.

“Ultimately it worked out. It was a tough tire to manage. Probably 15, 20 laps into my stint, I thought we were going to have to bail. We actually saw the 12 car bail off it very quickly. There were a few others you could see were really struggling with it and ultimately had to bail, as well.

“You really had to manage it, which is nice to have another kind of dimension to the race, something you really had to kind of look out for.

“Yeah, I think they could be more aggressive next year.”

The unfortunate nature of why it didn’t visually work as well as intended though was due to the nature of the second lane never really coming in. That’s because as the low lane being the customary preferred line, it forced the marbles into the second lane from the red tire degrading faster. Once the marbles accumulated, no one dared to try to get into it because you’d become a passenger while doing so.

“It brought in some pretty horrendous marbles onto the racetrack, which made the second lane almost impossible to use,” Pato O’Ward admitted. “I don’t think I was the only one.

“I think not that the blacks don’t create marbles, but definitely this alternate tire was a special add-on to that. It made it pretty hard. The difference in grip wasn’t that big of a difference.”

“Yeah, it was pretty treacherous,” said David Malukas.

The other problem is lapped cars being in the way and not playing nicely with the leaders either. It bunched everyone up because they couldn’t use that high lane to pass.

 “If you can do whatever possible to reduce marbles and we can actually use the second lane, then the lap cars won’t be as much of an issue,” Malukas continued.

Pato O’Ward says that the drivers need to play nicer because they’re back there for a reason.

“Because if they were fast enough, we wouldn’t be catching them,” he says. “Just move. Like, you’re getting lapped, move.

“Texas, you don’t need them to move because you have a second lane. But you have nothing to do here.

“I feel it’s more of a gentleman’s agreement, but nobody follows it. I feel like I’ve followed it pretty much my all my career. If I’m not having a good day, I’m not going to screw your race.

“Hopefully that comes in return whenever I am having a good day and they’re not, which has been a few cases. Definitely it’s not everybody. But the consistent lappers, it’s like, Dude…”

As far as where they could get out of the way?

“Just slow down in the straightaway and somebody pass by. It’s super simple,” said O’Ward.

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Malukas, McLaughlin Beefing

It’s funny how the racing God’s work. There’s a true sense of humor. This week, I asked David Malukas about how he’d race the drivers up front on Sunday should be in a position like he was in last year of going for the win. More than likely, it would be against the guys going for this year’s championship.

If he finds himself in a similar situation this year as last, how does he races those drivers going for the championship?

“I mean, in some ways you could say so, yeah, but recently the Bus Bros actually kind of did a dis on me on their racing video, so if anything, I’m more motivated to block them and hold them off and be very much of an annoyance on track,” he told me.

He of course was joking saying that the joke was all in good fun, but did say if he’s in that position late, you can’t go overboard.

“No, it’s all fun and games,” he continued. “I think they just picked like certain drivers that would obviously take the joke. I wanted to have a little bit of beef with him on Twitter, but he didn’t respond. I wanted to kind of have a little back-and-forth, create some kind of attention. But he never did it. He never went for it.

“It’s all fun and games. If they do come, yeah, there’s always kind of a sense of respect if you’re not really fighting into it, you know you’re not going to do anything crazy.

“But at the same time, if it’s 20 laps to go and I’m actually fighting with them for a top-3 position, then I think it’s all going to be fair game at that point because I would very much like a proper result at Gateway.”

INDYCAR took it and ran with it trying to promote some drama. Malukas quickly squashed it not wanting any problems.

Well, now he has problems.

He and Scott McLaughlin had a run-in on track for which they made contact with Malukas on the inside of McLaughlin late in the race in Turn 3. It sent McLaughlin high off line. McLaughlin wasn’t pleased with his friends move.

“Yeah, I was foul,” McLaughlin told me if the move was fair of foul. “I mean like, it’s got to be a point where you’ve got to give up the spot. You can’t put it like, well maybe that’s what he think so that’s fine.

“He didn’t want beef but now he’s got beef, yeah.”

Malukas didn’t see eye to eye about that.

“Yeah, I followed the car in front on the inside. Obviously for position he squeezed down,” he said. “I was right on the curb. It’s not like I washed up into him. It’s more that he cut into me. We had a tap. I managed to save it. I guess he did, as well.

“He came to me at podium and said something about it. I don’t know if he’s, like, oppressed by it. I don’t know, I think he got beef from that.

“From my standpoint, if you squeeze somebody down on the inside, what else are you going to expect? I can only go on the curb so much.”

Malukas a year ago in Portland was the honorary Bus Bro and it truly looked like he, Newgarden and McLaughlin was shaping up to be a powerful bromance. Now…there’s trouble in paradise.

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Strong Day For ECR

Ed Carpenter Racing started off rough with them rolling off P20-P23-P27. It got rougher when Ed Carpenter punted Benjamin Pedersen on the opening lap sparking an avoidable contact penalty. However, the other two drivers shined.

Rinus VeeKay gained 9 spots to finish 11th while Ryan Hunter-Reay was a season best in his time for ECR 14th.

“All in all, a good day for the points,” Hunter-Reay said. “Our pace in clear air was as fast as some of the leaders. I felt really good about the car in clean air, but in traffic we were just stuck all day. The guys did a great job in the pits cycling through that process, but most importantly we came away with some good points.”

Hunter-Reay rolled off from the 23rd position after this morning’s qualifying. Through solid strategy and quick stops by the No. 20 BITNILE.COM Chevrolet crew, he moved up through the field. 

Once final pit stops had been completed, Hunter-Reay had settled into the 14th position. He was able to hold off competitors on fresher tires and keep the position through the checkered flag.

For the second race in a row, Rinus VeeKay narrowly missed out on a Top 10 finish. He started 20th today, immediately moving up three positions before the first turn. 

When the early-race caution period ended, VeeKay gained two more positions on the ensuing restart. Once the pit cycles began, VeeKay continued to move forward. He stayed near the Top 10 for the rest of the event, cycling as high as 4th.

VeeKay came into the pit lane for the final time on Lap 204. As the rest of the field made their last stops, VeeKay had slotted into 11th. He remained there for the remainder of the race, finishing 11th for the second time in two races.

“Pretty good race,” he said. “Really good strategy by the team. It was a long one. I struggled a little bit to make passes happen in the train of cars. I wish I could’ve moved a bit through traffic, I struggled a little bit with that. I sat back most of the time and we made the right calls in strategy! For myself and Ryan (Hunter-Reay) to finish P11 and P14, it’s pretty good. I did not think this would happen after qualifying. Thanks to the BITNILE.COM No. 21 crew for great stops and strategy. Two back-to-back P11’s, we’re pretty pleased with that. On to the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland!”