Scott Dixon edged closer to being the winningest driver in the history of the Verizon IndyCar Series, claiming his 44th career victory in Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto. The victory marked his third on the streets of Toronto.
The deciding moment of the race was a mid-race restart in which pole sitter and top championship contender Josef Newgarden went wide coming out of the final corner. As Newgarden brushed the wall and sustained damage, Dixon cruised to the front of the pack and never looked back.
“It’s very nerve wracking,” Dixon said in the post-race press conference. “It went from quickly thinking ‘I can’t believe this is happening’ to getting to Turns 1 and 3 and thinking ‘I’m going to do the same thing’.”
Dixon was followed by Simon Pagenaud and hometown favourite Robert Wickens. Hailing from Guelph, Ontario, Wickens’ P3 matched the benchmark set by his teammate and countryman James Hinchcliffe in 2017. Hinchcliffe would finish P4 in front of the hometown crowd.
The race was marred by several incidents, including a multi-car pileup in Turn 1 that collected championship contenders such as Will Power, Alexander Rossi, and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Graham Rahal locked up the brakes heading into the corner and slid into the back of Max Chilton. The resulting chain reaction sparked the pileup soon after.
Chilton’s teammate Charlie Kimball would salvage the day for Carlin Motorsport, as he claimed the team’s highest IndyCar finish with a P5 performance in Toronto.
Dixon’s win would put him 62 points ahead of Newgarden, who finished P9, in the championship.
The Verizon IndyCar Series now moves on to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to face the Honda Indy 200.
