Monday, July 29, 2019
Associated Press
LEXINGTON
Scott Dixon’s victory Sunday was a lot closer than his previous five at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Scott Dixon held off rookie teammate Felix Rosenqvist by 0.0934 seconds in the Honda Indy 200 to put himself back in contention to defend his IndyCar season championship.
It was the closest finish at Mid-Ohio and the third-closest on a road course in IndyCar history.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver from New Zealand is third on the career victory list with 46
“I would have preferred winning by 10 seconds instead of banging wheels for a few laps,” Dixon said. “It feels really good for the sheer fact we haven’t won here since 2014.”
The final lap on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course featured an epic battle with Rosenqvist – and a failed maneuver by points leader Josef Newgarden of Team Penske. Newgarden tried to get around third-place Ryan Hunter-Reay in the keyhole part of the course, but ended up bumping Hunter-Reay and spinning off the track. Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport was third, 1.16 seconds behind Dixon.
Newgarden blew a chance to add to his points lead over Alexander Rossi. Rossi struggled to fifth, but still reduced Newgarden’s advantage to 16 points.
Newgarden, who finished 14th, blamed himself for the incident.
“I was trying to get on the podium,” he said. “It was my fault to force the issue.”
Penske’s Simon Pagenaud, who was sixth, is 57 points off the lead. Dixon is 62 back. There are four races left.
“It’s a big shift,” Dixon said. “These are the kind of weekends you need.”
The race to the checkered flag included lapped cars that put some space between Dixon and Rosenqvist, who has not won on the Indy circuit.
Team owner Chip Ganassi gave the go-ahead for the two to race to the finish. Rosenqvist and Dixon bumped but not enough to cause an accident that would have prevented a 1-2 team finish.