Scott Dixon’s bid to win the 2019 Indianapolis 500 was never going to be easy. Having qualified in 18th position the Kiwi driver was making steady progress through the field over the 200 mile race.
A key strategy is fuel saving and Dixon was doing just that.
“It was kind of interesting,” exclaimed Dixon. “I thought the first part the PNC Bank Honda was really good. We kept extending our pit windows. I think we were probably going to eliminate a stop, which was going to put us in a great position. And then that yellow flag just hosed us.
“It dropped us back, both myself and the No. 10 car (Rosenqvist). We were hung out in the back of the field, and we just got caught up in that accident. I had the car stopped in time, but then I just got hit up the rear. I’m not sure who that was, but it hit us pretty hard then broke the right side floor. It took the gear out, so it was just stuck in sixth gear the whole time. So it was pretty interesting just to finish.”
Dixon completed all 200 laps but finished in 17th position.
Simon Pagenaud completed his May mission with the biggest win of his racing life, capturing the 103rd Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in a duel for the ages and extending Team Penske’s dominance in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
Pagenaud edged Alexander Rossi by 0.2086 of a second following a thrilling clash over the final 14 laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that had the crowd at the world’s largest single-day sporting event on its feet and screaming with excitement. It was the seventh-closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history.
The race featured 29 lead changes among 10 drivers. Pagenaud led 116 laps – the most in the race since Dario Franchitti led 155 laps in his 2010 win – in becoming the first Indy 500 pole sitter to go on and win since Castroneves in 2009.
There were five caution periods for 29 laps, including the Lap 178 incident involving Sebastien Bourdais, Graham Rahal, Scott Dixon, Felix Rosenqvist, Charlie Kimball and Zach Veach. It began when the cars of Bourdais and Rahal made contact in Turn 3, with the others collected in the aftermath.
All the drivers were checked and released from the IU Health Emergency Medical Center at the track, though Veach will undergo further examination for soreness in his right knee. The race was red-flagged for 18 minutes to allow the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team and track workers to clean the debris.
Crewman Chris Minot was taken to IU Health Methodist Hospital for further evaluation of a leg injury after he was struck in a pit-lane incident involving his driver, Jordan King, in the No. 42 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda.
Race results
1. (1) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 200, Running
2. (9) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 200, Running
3. (14) Takuma Sato, Honda, 200, Running
4. (8) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 200, Running
5. (6) Will Power, Chevrolet, 200, Running
6. (2) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 200, Running
7. (23) Santino Ferrucci, Honda, 200, Running
8. (22) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 200, Running
9. (16) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 200, Running
10. (11) Conor Daly, Honda, 200, Running
11. (32) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 200, Running
12. (15) James Davison, Honda, 200, Running
13. (4) Ed Jones, Chevrolet, 200, Running
14. (3) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 200, Running
15. (24) Matheus Leist, Chevrolet, 200, Running
16. (30) Pippa Mann, Chevrolet, 200, Running
17. (18) Scott Dixon, Honda, 200, Running
18. (12) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 199, Running
19. (31) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 199, Running
20. (21) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 199, Running
21. (25) Jack Harvey, Honda, 199, Running
22. (19) Oriol Servia, Honda, 199, Running
23. (13) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 198, Running
24. (26) Jordan King, Honda, 198, Running
25. (20) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 196, Running
26. (10) Marco Andretti, Honda, 195, Running
27. (17) Graham Rahal, Honda, 176, Contact
28. (29) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 176, Contact
29. (28) Zach Veach, Honda, 176, Contact
30. (7) Sebastien Bourdais, Honda, 176, Contact
31. (33) Kyle Kaiser, Chevrolet, 71, Contact
32. (27) Ben Hanley, Chevrolet, 54, Mechanical
33. (5) Colton Herta, Honda, 3, Mechanical
NTT IndyCar Series point standings:
Pagenaud 250, Newgarden 249, Rossi 228, Dixon 203, Sato 203, Power 184, Hunter-Reay 157, Hinchcliffe 145, Pigot 133, Ferrucci 129.
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