Scott Dixon came out on top at Road America on Sunday, defeating the quartet of Team Penske drivers that had gone into the race as big favourites, but a combination of a strong race car and strategy saw the Kiwi take victory.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver had started the race fifth on the grid, jumping up to fourth on the opening lap ahead of Simon Pagenaud before making his way progressively through the other Penske drivers. He eventually found himself at the head of the field, beating Josef Newgarden by just over half a second, with the other Penske’s of Helio Castroneves, Pagenaud and Will Power in his wake.
It was Dixon’s first victory of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season, and one he felt was deserved after missing out earlier in the year, and he heads to Iowa Speedway in two weeks time 33-points clear in the championship.
“The NTT Data car has really had pace all weekend,” said Dixon. “The Penske cars definitely had something figured out this weekend and we knew we were going to have a battle on our hands.
“Then we missed the morning warm-up today with a fuel pressure issue. The team worked hard to fix the car and it was a bit of an unknown for the race, but it held up.
“We had great strategy and great pace today and I couldn’t be happier for the team. We had a few races earlier this year that I felt got away, so this feels good and it’s good for us in the points.”
