FORT WORTH, Texas. — In a weekend in which the NTT IndyCar Series would be competing on their only oval before the Indianapolis 500, Scott Dixon led the most laps and earned a win, while Pato O’Ward made a big statement.
In the first race of the doubleheader weekend Saturday night, Scott Dixon earned his 51st career win after leading all but four of the races 226 laps.
“It was a bit of a crazy night for us,” Dixon said. “Definitely very tense there at the end. It was kind of cool to be racing a countryman for the last few laps. Fifth win at Texas, baby! That was awesome.”
The win for Dixon ties him for second all-time in career IndyCar wins with Mario Andretti (51). AJ Foyt holds the most all-time wins at 67.
This is also Dixon’s 19th season in IndyCar with at least one win, a record that passes Foyt’s record in that regard (18).
Scott Mclaughlin got his first podium as an IndyCar rookie in second and Pato O’Ward was third for his first podium finish of the year.
Heading into the second day on Sunday the field would be set on points rather than qualifying. With that, Dixon would start on the pole alongside his Ganassi teammate Alex Palou.
Alexander Rossi, who finished ninth in Race 1, started back in the pack and got caught up in an opening lap wreck that collected six cars.
Rossi, taking to the IndyCar Radio Network, would blame the result on the field being set by the point standings and not by qualifying.
Race Two:
The second race came down to fuel strategy and as Dixon once again led the majority of the laps, a late caution during the final round of pit stops ended up shuffling Dixon back in the field and Newgarden to the lead.
But, O’Ward had a fast car in the long run and would make his way around Newgarden with just 15 laps to go. O’Ward led for the remainder of the race to earn his first win in the NTT IndyCar Series.
“Finally!” O’Ward said. “That was a long race, but we had so much pace in the Arrow McLaren SP No. 5. We got the job done today, man. I couldn’t be happier for a group of guys. It’s Texas. It’s very close to my heart. Many Mexicans were out there in the grandstands, so thank you guys so much.”
“Fuel mileage was big today,” said Newgarden, who finished second. “To get second place, I don’ think we can be disappointed, but we just did have the speed there, not sure why. Still, second place is a good day for us.”
The win is the first for McLaren since their return to IndyCar two years ago. For the Arrow McLaren SP team as a whole, it is this their first win since James Hinchcliffe won at Iowa in 2018.
O’Ward’s win comes with other rewards as well. On top of moving into second in the point standings behind Scott Dixon, O’Ward was also promised a test in a McLaren Formula One car if he were to win a race this season.
The series has the next week off ahead of heading to the yard of bricks in two weeks. Drivers will get ready for the GMR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, which is the penultimate event ahead of the Indianapolis 500.
