The Kiwi driver pulled off a miracle to win his second consecutive race in the series, crossing the line 22 seconds ahead of Pato O’Ward at World Wide Technology Raceway, slicing Alex Palou’s championship lead to 74 points with 2 rounds to go.

David Malukas finished on the podium for the second time in as many years at Gateway, backing up last year’s runner up finish with a third place on Sunday afternoon, beating both Alexander Rossi and NTT P1 award winner Scott McLaughlin to the rostrum.

Colton Herta was highest of the Andretti Autosport cars, finishing 6th, ahead of championship leader Alex Palou. Palou could have been crowned champion this weekend had he left the Bommarito 500 with a points lead of over 108, but instead saw his lead slashed to 74 by Dixon.

Felix Rosenqvist finished ahead of Will Power in 8th, whilst Marcus Ericsson’s tough weekend came to an end in 10th. After Power crashed into him in practice 1, the #8 crew worked overnight to replace Ericsson’s chassis. The chassis, wrapped in Palou’s livery, took the Swede to the top 10, as he sported a patriotic looking car that combined his Palou’s American Legion wrap with his own Huski Ice-Spritz machine.

The race featured lots of talk about marbles and tyre life, and although 2 cautions totalling 21 laps after incidents involving Benjamin Pedersen and Ed Carpenter (on lap 1), as well as Takuma Sato on lap 122 allowed for different strategies to come into play, racing on track remained a single-groove affair.

The biggest loser of the race was Josef Newgarden. He had not been beaten at Gateway since 2019. However, an incident on lap 210 which saw him break the front right suspension ended a remarkable run of 5 consecutive Indycar oval victories. Back to back DNFs at the Indianapolis Road course and here in Illinois have taken him mathematically out of the championship fight.

2023 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 Results

2023 NTT Indycar Series Standings

Dixon displays masterful skill to keep championship hopes alive

With hopes of a record equally 7th championship hanging by a thread, Dixon came to Gateway knowing that perfection was required across the final 3 rounds if he was to have any hope of clinching the 2023 NTT Indycar Series title.

A grid penalty saw him roll off 15th in the race, and as the strategy race began to unfold, it was clear that Dixon was doing his own thing out the front, in contrast to everyone else.

Dixon’s aim was clear: save enough fuel over the course of the race to do 1 less stop than everyone else, for passing at the oval was difficult and track position was at a premium. He took the lead for the first time on lap 113, before the caution flag flew on lap 123, making the strategy that much more challenging.

It in fact seemed like Marcus Ericsson was best placed to pull off Dixon’s strategy, having pitted for the second time 15 laps later than the Kiwi, but Chip Ganassi’s #8 crew backed out of this option, in contrast to their #9 counterparts.

The race had initially been between O’Ward and Newgarden, who traded blows throughout the afternoon, as they carved their way through the field. However, Scott Dixon crept his way to the front, and when he pitted with 65 laps to go, ending a stint of 69 laps, it looked as if the fuel saving master had pulled another rabbit out of the hat.

When O’Ward made his last stop on lap 214, he was well over a lap behind Dixon, and the gap suddenly became insurmountable. O’Ward did eventually get his lap back, but even then, there was no way of catching Scott Dixon. The Mexican driver eventually finished 22 seconds off Dixon.

Of the 24 drivers who reached the chequered flag, only 3 of them had made 4 stops in the race, with Grosjean finishing 12th, Ferrucci 13th and Robb in 21st. 20 drivers made either 5 or 6 stops for fuel and tyres.

Scott Dixon did all 260 laps of World Wide Technology Raceway in just 3 stops, aided by just 21 laps of caution along the way. The Ice-Man’s ability to pull off fuel-related miracles is unmatched, and he secured his 55th win in the series in unbelievable style.

After the race, Dixon said ‘I think probably the hardest part was the restart where we were leading, having to get a pretty high fuel number. We weren’t getting it. We were a ways off.’

(Dixon spent much of his penultimate stint drafting off Sting Ray Robb) ‘I knew once we caught the back markers we’d be able to save and get beyond the fuel mileage that we needed to. It actually worked out perfectly.’

With just 2 races remaining and a 74 points deficit to make up, if anyone can close up to Alex Palou then it is the 6 time champion Scott Dixon. 2023’s NTT Indycar Series championship might just have 1 final twist.

Drivers left scrambling for minor places as Gateway proves tough test

Before the Bommarito 500, it was announced that for the first time in Indycar history, there would be multiple compounds available for the drivers to use during the race, in order to add more intrigue to an event which had come under fire for being too predictable in recent times.

The alternate tyre for the weekend was one that had already been used at the event before, hoping to allow closer racing and more overtaking opportunities.

However, as the race unfolded, it was clear that the opposite effect was occurring. The softer alternate tyre did not provide a large enough differential to produce more overtaking, and instead the tyre shed more marbles onto the outside of the track, forcing the drivers to keep in the bottom groove and nullifying any multi-groove racing opportunities.

The marbles on the outside of the track proved deadly, as Takuma Sato frequently found himself flirting with the concrete walls after going a bit too high through turns 1 and 2. Sato’s luck eventually ran out on lap 122 at turn 2, but not before he had forced Ilott up into the marbles as well, sliding the #77 into the wall and out of the event on lap 58.

Josef Newgarden was the pre-race favourite, but even his mastery of World Wide Technology Raceway could not stop him from meeting his fate on lap 210, as he left his hopes of winning the 2023 championship in the wall at turn 2.

The nature of the circuit meant the race became one of strategy and conservation, and from that moment on, Scott Dixon came to the fore and his 55th win was never in doubt.

As Pato O’Ward put it, the only way he did not win the race was because ‘Yeah…Scott Dixon did a Scott Dixon today’. That aptly sums up just how brilliant the #9 car was.

The NTT Indycar Series returns on Sunday for the BitNile Grand Prix of Portland, where Alex Palou will have another shot at winning the championship, before the finale a week after at WeatherTech Raceway.