Scott Dixon took the checkered flag for the 42nd time, tying Michael Andretti for third all-time among Verizon IndyCar Series drivers Saturday at the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Race 1.
Dixon, known for warming up into better races as the season rolls on, appears to have hit his stride as the Detroit win marks his third consecutive podium finish in 2018.
“It was big,” Dixon told the ABC broadcast, post-race. “It’s nice to get that first win out of the way. We came up a little short in those last few races.”
Pole sitter Marco Andretti lead much of the early part of the race, but faced a great deal of pressure from teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alexander Rossi. Graham Rahal, among the race’s fastest cars and favourites to win, made heavy contact with the wall on lap 47 to end his day.
Hunter-Reay was then left to hunt down Dixon in the final 10 laps after a wild Santino Ferrucci accident setup a sprint to the finish. While Hunter-Reay was fighting for his first win since Pocono in 2015, he was unable to get a run on one of IndyCar’s winningest drivers.
“That guy is one of the best in the business,” Hunter-Reay said of Dixon. “Fun day behind the wheel, just came up a bit short in the end… He’s Scott Dixon, he’s not falling off.”
All discussion surrounding the dominance of Honda at Detroit proved to be warranted, as Honda teams swept the top six positions with the highest Chevrolet finish of P7 coming from last week’s Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power.
Dixon now sits only behind A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti in all-time wins.
The Verizon IndyCar Series returns to the streets of Detroit for the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Race 2 Sunday, June 3 at 3:30pm ET.
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