Dixon and Hull manufacture more fuel-saving magic in Motown
Scott Dixon – Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix – Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
Chip Ganassi Racing ace Scott Dixon and race strategist Mike Hull schooled the field during Sunday’s caution-marred Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, as corporate rival Honda played party spoiler in General Motors’ hometown and “Dixie” assumed the championship point lead.
A six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, Dixon collaborated with Hull on another master class in the art of saving fuel at-speed. Dixon outlasted fellow-Honda driver Marcus Ericsson of Andretti Global by 0.8567-seconds after 100 laps around the tight-and-bumpy 1.645-mile/nine-turn temporary circuit in Downtown Motown.
Scott Dixon – Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix – Photo by James Black
“Yeah, I think for us as a team, we just try to cover all bases, man,” said Dixon, who led a race-high 35 laps en route to his second win of the season, fourth in a Detroit GP and 58th in his brilliant career. Dixon now is nine wins shy of tying open-wheel icon A.J. Foyt Jr.’s record of 67 career INDYCAR wins.
“I think having been in this race last year, then several Detroits before, anything is on the table no matter where you start on the grid,” said Dixon, who qualified fifth in the 27-car field in the No. 9 PNC Bank CGR Honda. “I don’t think there’s a style or a classic way of winning. Honestly, you just take any win you can get.”
Dixon took the championship lead by 18 points from two-time/reigning series champion Alex Palou of CGR with his second street-course win of the season, reprising his result from the prestigious Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in April.
Scott Dixon and Chip Ganassi – Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix – Photo by James Black
“The team called it perfectly (Sunday),” said Dixon, a 43-year-old native of New Zealand. “We were on the right strategy. We won, man. How cool is that?
“It’s just always the variables. Trying to stay out of trouble, trying to keep your car on-track. We had rain. It was all over the shop out there. You had no idea how the transitions were going to fall or even the strategy. So stoked for everyone on the team. That was cool.”
Ericsson, of Sweden, posted his best result of the season in the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda fielded by Andretti Global. Marcus Armstrong, another native of New Zealand, finished third in the No. 11 Root Insurance CGR Honda for his first career podium result.
Kyle Kirkwood placed a season-best fourth in the No. 28 AutoNation Honda fielded by Andretti Global, while Alexander Rossi emerged as best-in-class for GM/Chevrolet at fifth in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevy.
Scott Dixon – Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix – Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo
Dixon and Hull elected to make their final pit stop under caution at the end of Lap 56, hoping enough yellow flags would fly in the race’s second half to stretch fuel until the finish at Lap 100. The strategy worked to perfection, as two more caution periods after Dixon’s last stop allowed him to save just enough Shell 100 percent Renewable Race Fuel to reach the finish in front of Ericsson.
Recall that Dixon pulled off a similar/improbable fuel-save to win on the famed Streets of Long Beach.
“I think some of today is a little bit of luck, right?” Dixon said. “I think Long Beach, we took an aggressive approach. If we were lucky, we would have had some caution. We had to do it the very difficult way of having no caution.
“Today it kind of played out that way a little bit, but it was tight. A lot of people on our strategy didn’t make it. (Colton) Herta made it difficult for us there. We knew they were going to be two or three laps short, but they threw the Hail Mary of getting their lap back. Had to push on him. The cars from behind were starting to encroach on us.”
Scott Dixon takes the checkered flag – Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix – Photo by Paul Hurley
It appeared Dixon might cruise into Victory Lane until the last 13 laps. That was when Ericsson passed Kirkwood for third place and set his sights on Armstrong while lapping nearly a second quicker per circuit than the fuel-saving Dixon. Simultaneously, Dixon was dealing with the turbulence and slower pace of pole-sitter Herta’s No. 26 Gainbridge Honda, which was operating at the tail end of the lead lap. The top three cars were separated by 1.6-seconds on Lap 94.
Dixon finally got under Herta on Lap 95 to re-gain clean air. Ericsson then passed Armstrong for second on Lap 99, falling 2.1-seconds behind Dixon at the white flag. Ericsson made the most of his final circuit, cutting Dixon’s margin by more than half. While it wasn’t enough to catch Dixon, Ericsson was elated to rebound from last Sunday’s 108th Indianapolis 500, in which he was eliminated on Lap 1 after being caught in a spin triggered by rookie Tom Blomqvist of Meyer Shank Racing. Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 champion, finished <> last Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“After the ‘Month of May’ we had, it was really, really tough mentally,” Ericsson said. “I’m new in this team. I want to show myself as a top driver, as they hired me as. It was really important. We had so much pace. One more lap, and we might have been able to get that win. But great day.”
Marcus Ericsson – Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix – Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo
The first three-quarters of the race were chaotic, with all eight caution periods and 47 caution laps occurring in the first 73 laps. The longest stretch of green-flag racing during that span was only 13 laps, putting a premium on options.
Factor in a rapid change in tire strategy during the first 15 laps, when the prevailing wisdom of the Firestone Firehawk alternate tire being the quicker rubber was proven wrong by Palou. The Spaniard, who started on used alternates, lost grip far earlier than expected and was forced to pit at the end of Lap 11.
A passing rain shower entered the mix on Lap 34, which caused strategists, pit crews and drivers to decide whether to pit for rain tires or stay out and gamble the rain would exit quickly.
Dixon, Ericsson and Kirkwood were among the eight drivers who never stopped for rain tires. That helped move them higher in the running order and get into position to earn top-five finishes. That trio only made two stops the entire race.
Dixon took the lead for the first time and for good on Lap 66 when Palou, the defending event champion, made the last of his five stops in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou finished 16th, snapping his streak of 23 consecutive finishes in the top-eight in point-paying events.
Pato O’Ward – Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix – Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo
Pato O’Ward, runnerup to Josef Newgarden in the 108th Indy 500, placed a lead-lap seventh in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet after qualifying 12th.
“Survival was the name of the game today,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio. “We had to nurse the car home ever since Lap 1, where we had a lot of damage.” O’Ward got caught in a jam of stalled opening-lap traffic that included Rossi and Dallas resident Santino Ferrucci of A.J. Foyt Racing.
“Considering the fact that we were a bit handcuffed in terms of performance, I think it was a really strong day for us and the Arrow McLaren Chevrolet team,” O’Ward said. “I have to say I’m pretty happy with seventh place.”
Ferrucci, who was at-odds with Andretti teammates Herta and Kirkwood all weekend, rallied to finish ninth after starting 10th in the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet.
Santino Ferrucci – Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix – Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo
On lap 15, Ferrucci tagged popular Brazilian Helio Castroneves, subbing for Englishman Tom Blomqvist, after hitting a bump in the surface. Castroneves’ resulting spin in the No. 66 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda fielded by Meyer Shank Racing was compounded by rookie Kyffin Simpson’s No. 4 CGR Honda running into Helio after having no place to escape. Ferrucci received a stop-and-go penalty for avoidable contact but kept his nose clean the rest of the race, avoiding another close call in the middle stages.
Savvy pit strategy contributed to Santino’s fourth top-10 finish in six races, the best start to a season by any Foyt Enterprises driver since the tenure of Japan’s Takuma Sato.
“First off, I really want to apologize to Helio,” Ferrucci said. “That’s one of my closest friends in racing and we blatantly got into the back of him and ruined his day and for all of those guys, so I’m sorry for that. For us, helluva rebound getting wrecked at the start, to a stop-and-go penalty, back to last twice, the rain.
“I mean, helluva strategy on the stand from the boys to put us back into ninth. I’m just really proud of this Sexton Properties Chevrolet team. It was a solid race day considering all of the emotions of this weekend.”
Josef Newgarden – Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix – Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo
Newgarden soldiered on through a miserable day, finishing 26th and six laps off Dixon’s winning pace one week after winning his second consecutive Indy 500.
“It’s crazy how races in this series can turn on a dime,” said Newgarden, who started third and led only Lap 34 in the No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet. “We were in a great position to capitalize on some of the drama going on around us to possibly win today. Unfortunately, (teammate) Scott McLaughlin had his incident just before halfway and that helped us into second before we hit pit road.
“That’s kind of where our day went south when the fuel probe valve wouldn’t open initially, costing us a ton of track position. After restarting 19th, it just seemed our day went downhill. Definitely a wild afternoon for not just the Astemo Chevrolet team but for most of the field.”
On the up-side, team-owner Roger Penske confirmed Saturday that Newgarden had been signed to a multi-year contract extension, removing the 33-year-old native of Tennessee from INDYCAR’s Silly Season rumor mill.
Dixon took note of the irony in Honda earning the first four finishing spots in a race held in the shadow of GM’s Renaissance Center tower.
“Cool to see Jim Campbell hand me the trophy today,” said Dixon, referring to General Motors’ Vice President of Performance and Motorsports. “Obviously, they don’t want to do that. Weird. It happens sometimes like that. Honda is not going to lay down. They’re getting after it. We saw what the other manufacturer (Chevrolet) had at the 500. They were packing some heat, man. We saw that even in the first practice here when you look at top-line speeds. They’ve got a lot of power right now.
“Drivability is always fantastic with Honda. Obviously, drivability and fuel mileage plays a big factor, especially in these street courses, how bumpy they are. I think they still have the upper hand there.”
Next up is the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., on Sunday, June 9. Live coverage will start at 3:30 p.m. (EDT) on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Englishman Louis Foster led all 45 laps to win the Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday, moving closer to the INDY NXT by Firestone championship lead after misfortune struck his two closest title rivals.
Pole-sitter Foster drove his No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car of Andretti Global to victory under caution. It was his second win of the season and second in a row, as he won the second race of the doubleheader last month on the 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course.
Foster’s fourth career victory moved him from third to second in the standings, 25 points behind leader Jacob Abel. Foster entered this race 44 points behind Abel, who finished fifth in the No. 51 Abel Construction entry fielded by Abel Motorsports.
Nolan Siegel, who entered this race second in points, 25 behind Abel, finished 18th after sitting in the pits for the first three laps of the race due to a half-shaft problem in his No. 39 HMD Motorsports car. Siegel dropped to third in points, 44 behind leader Abel.
“We’re second in points now,” Foster said. “Unfortunate for Nolan, he didn’t start the race. That’s a shame. But it’s good for us. Abel didn’t have a great race either. We’re just continuing our pace throughout the season. Hopefully we just keep getting decent luck, not any more bad luck, and I’ll be happy.”
Two rookies from HMD Motorsports shared the podium with Foster. Rookie Caio Collet pressured Foster for nearly the entire race before ending up a career-best second with his second consecutive podium in the No. 18 machine. Callum Hedge earned his first podium with a career-best result of third in the No. 17 car.
Rookie Myles Rowe produced an inspired drive to a career-best fourth after starting 19th in the 21-car field in the No. 99 HMD Motorsports with Force Indy car.
While Foster led every lap around the 1.645-mile/nine-turn temporary street circuit, this race was far from a parade. Foster stayed out front on three restarts despite constant pressure from Collet, and there were multiple squabbles for position throughout the field.
Collet stayed within about one-second of Foster for most of the race, with Foster only extending that gap to two-plus seconds before a caution flag flew on Lap 39 due to a spin by the No. 7 HMD Motorsports car driven by Christian Bogle.
Brazilian Collet stayed within approximately one-half second of Foster on the restart on Lap 41 before James Roe spun in his No. 29 Topcon car fielded by Andretti Autosport on Lap 42, collecting the cars of Nolan Allaer, Christian Bogle and Niels Koolen, triggering the race-ending caution period.
“At the start, I was just managing the gap,” Foster said. “About midway through, I pulled quite a gap on him (Collet), thinking it killed his tires. But to be fair to him, he came back at me quite hard in the late stages of the race. It was getting close, but I think we had enough push-to-pass to keep him off.”
One of the most spirited duels of the day unfolded in the closing laps, between Hedge and Rowe for third. It appeared Rowe had barged past Hedge for his first career podium finish, but that move came just after the race-ending caution period started. So, Hedge was credited with third.
Next series race is the Grand Prix at Road America on Sunday, June 9. Live coverage will start at 1:05 p.m. (EDT) on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Results of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear NTT IndyCar Series event on the 1.645-mile/nine-turn Streets of Detroit temporary circuit, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
- (5) Scott Dixon, Honda, 100, Running
2. (9) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 100, Running
3. (19) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 100, Running
4. (6) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 100, Running
5. (16) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 100, Running
6. (8) Will Power, Chevrolet, 100, Running
7. (12) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 100, Running
8. (22) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 100, Running
9. (10) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 100, Running
10. (7) Theo Pourchaire, Chevrolet, 100, Running
11. (11) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 100, Running
12. (17) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 100, Running
13. (15) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 100, Running
14. (18) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 100, Running
15. (20) Graham Rahal, Honda, 100, Running
16. (2) Alex Palou, Honda, 100, Running
17. (26) Jack Harvey, Honda, 100, Running
18. (24) Tristan Vautier, Honda, 99, Running
19. (1) Colton Herta, Honda, 99, Running
20. (4) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 99, Running
21. (23) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 99, Running
22. (21) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 99, Running
23. (14) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 97, Running
24. (27) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 96, Running
25. (25) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 95, Running
26. (3) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 94, Running
27. (13) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 23, Mechanical
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 78.251 mph
Time of Race: 02:06:07.9684
Margin of victory: 0.8567-seconds
Cautions: 8 for 47 laps
Lead changes: 5 among 6 drivers
Lap Leaders
Herta, Colton 1 – 33
Newgarden, Josef 34
Lundgaard, Christian 35 – 40
Kirkwood, Kyle 41 – 64
Palou, Alex 65
Dixon, Scott 66 – 100
NTT IndyCar Series point standings _ 1, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 216; 2, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 198; 3, Will Power, Team Penske, 185; 4, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 160; 5, Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren, 150; 6, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 148; 7, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 147; 8, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 141; 9, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 140; 10, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 128;
11, Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 122; 12, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 117; 13, Marcus Armstrong, Chip Ganassi Racing, 116; 14, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 108; 15, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing, 103; 16, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 101; 17, Romain Grosjean, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 86; 18, Linus Lundqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing, 81; 19, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 76; 20, Augustin Canapino, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 74;
21, Pietro Fittipaldi, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 67; 22, Jack Harvey, Dale Coyne Racing, 60; 23, Theo Pourchaire, Arrow McLaren, 58; 24, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 55; 25, Sting Ray Robb, A.J. Foyt Racing, 46; 26, Tom Blomqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 46; 27, Callum Ilott, Arrow McLaren, 39; 28, Conor Daly, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Cusick Motorsports, 21; 29, Kyle Larson, Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren, 21; 30, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 19;
31, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing, 15; 32, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 14; 33, Luca Ghiotto, Dale Coyne Racing, 14; 34, Tristan Vautier, Dale Coyne Racing, 12; 35, Nolan Siegel, Dale Coyne Racing, 10; 36, Colin Braun, Dale Coyne Racing, 10; 37, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Cusick Motorsports, 6; 38, Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb Agajanian, 5; 39, Katherine Legge, Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, 5.
