Dixon holds off Herta for masterful Long Beach IndyCar win

Alex Palou made for a Chip Ganassi Racing one-three at the end of 85 laps, with Newgarden home fourth and Will Power sixth, but fellow Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin classified 26th after gearbox problems.

Power (#12 Chevrolet) had qualified on the front row and, being first of those starting on alternate tyres, rounded up pole-sitter Felix Rosenqvist (#60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda) as soon as the race got underway.

Newgarden, on primary tyres, overtook Rosenqvist on Lap 3, as Power moved towards a six-second lead.

It was lost with a Caution on Lap 15 when Christian Rasmussen (#20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet) spun into the wall at Turn 4.

Power pitted and swapped to ‘blacks’, with Dixon next into the lane from seventh position to take on the green alternates.

Newgarden assumed the lead while Dixon passed Power as they ran down the main ‘straight’ on Lap 24, four laps after the restart, helped by the softer rubber on his #9 Honda.

Newgarden pitted on Lap 30 and then Herta was the official leader until stopping on Lap 32, both swapping from blacks to ‘greens’.

Dixon thus assumed first spot and was eight seconds to the good relative to second-placed Power when both stopped on Lap 51, the latter changing back to primaries but the former opting for another set of alternates.

Newgarden and Herta filtered to the top two, three seconds apart, before the Penske driver pitted on Lap 58 for a set of used alternates.

Herta, and second-placed Palou (#10 Honda), held out until Lap 61, at which time both were into the lane for a set of used alternates.

That set up the run home, with Dixon 5.5s up on Newgarden, Herta third at 10 seconds off the pace in the #26 Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda, and Power just behind in fourth, while McLaughlin ran eighth.

With Dixon in major fuel-save mode, Newgarden slashed the margin to one second with 17 laps to go, while Palou had long made his way past a similarly fuel-conscious Power for fourth spot.

McLaughlin had slipped to 10th by the time he slowed on Lap 71 and was forced to pit the #3 Chevrolet.

Newgarden caught the #9 Honda on Lap 74 but Herta was reeling both of them in, and had push-to-pass in reserve relative to the #2 Chevrolet.

The top three were nose-to-tail with nine laps to go, when the most controversial moment of the race took place.

Herta gave Newgarden a nudge at the Hairpin which caused Car #2 to go into anti-stall, with the Andretti driver snatching second place and Palou grabbing third.

Traffic was also a factor, and one which aided Dixon’s cause when he cleared team-mate Kyffin Simpson (#4 Honda) on Lap 80 but Herta took a little longer.

The gap was 0.8s when Herta got by on Lap 82 at Turn 1, but the battle was on with two laps to go.

At the white flag, Dixon had eked it out to 0.5s, and strategist Mike Hull told him, “Use everything you’ve got.”

He would win by 0.9798s over Herta, with Palou another 0.7866s further back, then Newgarden, Marcus Ericsson (#28 Andretti Honda), Power, Kyle Kirkwood (#27 Andretti Honda), Romain Grosjean (#77 Junos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet), Rosenqvist, and Alexander Rossi (#7 McLaren Chevrolet).

The latter survived an early shunt at the Fountain from none other than team-mate Pato O’Ward (#5 Chevrolet), who had to serve a drive-through for avoidable contact and was classified 16th.

Newgarden continues to lead the series, by a reduced, 12-point margin over Dixon, who dedicated his victory to the recently deceased Sir Colin Giltrap.

The season continues at Barber Motorsports Park next weekend (April 26-28, local time).

Results: Race, Streets of Long Beach

Race winner: 85 laps

Series points