Scott Dixon wins Detroit IndyCar crash-fest

Dixon filtered to the lead under the seventh of eight Cautions after a calculated gamble on a relatively early final pit stop which would pay dividends in the end.

He beat Andretti Global’s Ericsson to the chequered flag by 0.8567s after 100 laps around the Streets of Detroit, with Marcus Armstrong home third in his Ganssi Honda and Kyle Kirkwood fourth in another Andretti Honda.

Fifth through seventh were the Chevrolets of McLaren’s Alexander Rossi, Team Penske’s Will Power, and McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, all of whom were in contact with each other in a first-corner incident which set the tone for the race.

Power somehow leaves Detroit third in the series despite that and multiple penalties, at 31 points behind Dixon and 13 behind Alex Palou, who finished 16th.

Scott McLaughlin finished a lap down in 20th after crashing while running second and Penske team-mate Josef Newgarden ended up six laps down in 26th.

Colton Herta (#26 Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda) had qualified on pole position and led the field to green on the relatively long run to Turn 3.

When they got there, Power spun thanks to a touch from Theo Pourchaire (#6 McLaren Chevrolet), who had been held wide of the apex by Christian Lundgaard.

Several were caught in the mess, including AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci (#14 Chevrolet), O’Ward (#5 Chevrolet), and his McLaren team-mate Rossi (#7 Chevrolet) nose-to-tail into Power.

A Caution resulted due to Power being unable to reverse his damaged #12 Penske Chevrolet from the wall, under which Herta (black tyres) led Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, greens), and McLaughlin (#3 Chevrolet, blacks) sat third having passed Newgarden (blacks).

When the race restarted on Lap 4, Kirkwood (#27 Honda, greens) immediately went under Newgarden for fourth at Turn 3 before Lundgaard (#45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, greens) lunged past Dixon (#9 Honda, blacks) for sixth at Turn 8.

Lundgaard passed Newgarden for fifth on Lap 6 at Turn 1 before McLaughlin went under a struggling Palou at the same spot on Lap 10.

Palou sank to eighth by the time he pitted on Lap 11 to discard his used greens then Lundgaard was in from fifth on Lap 15 shortly after being passed back by Newgarden.

He beat the second Caution by mere seconds, after Ferrucci unloaded Helio Castroneves (#66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda) at Turn 5 and the latter was hit by Kyffin Simpson (#4 CGR Honda).

Herta’s five-second lead over McLaughlin was wiped out but none of the front-runners pitted and Lundgaard resumed in 15th on blacks.

Palou was 21st having used the Caution to get his new set of greens out of the way and switch to blacks, while Power (blacks) sat 23rd but on the lead lap.

On the Lap 22 restart, McLaughlin had to block Kirkwood at Turn 3, while Herta stretched his lead beyond two seconds in five laps.

Light rain raised the stakes before McLaughlin slid out of second and into the barriers at Turn 1 on Lap 33, triggering a Caution.

Those yet to pit were into the lane before sprinkles became genuine rain, prompting many including Herta to pit a second time and switch to wets.

By the time the Caution ended, however, the rain had stopped and the gamble of staying on slicks had paid off for the top seven.

Lundgaard led the field back to green on Lap 41 but was overtaken by Kirkwood on the run to Turn 3.

Another Caution came almost immediately when Power made contact with Rinus VeeKay in a battle for fifth which caused the #21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet to spin and stall.

Those on wets took the opportunity to revert to slicks and there was drama in the lane when Newgarden ran over one of his guns.

That pulled his #2 Chevrolet right and it hit Lundgaard crew member Chris Adams, who escaped with a cut shin.

The fourth restart on Lap 46 almost immediately produced the fifth Caution when Herta lunged Palou for ninth position at Turn 5 and ran long, forcing Tristan Vautier (#51 Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing Honda) to come with him.

The next green flag period was even shorter, with Lundgaard nerfing Romain Grosjean (#77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet) out of fourth position as soon as they reached Turn 3 on Lap 53.

Dixon, Newgarden, McLaughlin, and Herta, among others, pitted when the lane opened on Lap 56.

They were short of the critical lap unless there were more Cautions, and hence the call.

Kirkwood (blacks) led, from Ericsson (#28 Honda, greens), Rossi (blacks), Palou (blacks), and O’Ward (greens), with Dixon (blacks) 13th, Newgarden (blacks) 16th, McLaughlin (blacks) a lap down in 21st, and Herta (blacks) 22nd.

The sixth restart on Lap 60 nearly produced another Caution when Pourchaire clattered into Agustin Canapino (#78 JHR Chevrolet) near the back of the top 10 but they pressed on.

Newgarden had to pull out of 16th when he was handed a drive-through for his pit lane incident and Lundgaard copped a stop-go for the Grosjean clash.

McLaughlin played a role in the seventh Caution when he bumped Sting Ray Robb (#41 AJ Foyt Chevrolet) into the barriers while making an overtake at Turn 5 on Lap 63.

The top 12 pitted and Dixon (blacks) filtered to the lead, with Armstrong (blacks) second despite his #11 Honda stalling when he was caught up in the Lundgaard-Grosjean incident.

Vautier (greens) was third, from Kirkwood (blacks), Newgarden (blacks), Rossi (blacks), Palou (blacks), Ericsson (blacks), Power (greens), and O’Ward (blacks).

With Dixon staying out, Herta (blacks) was still stuck a lap down in 20th, although second on-road, while McLaughlin (blacks) was 22nd.

The seventh restart led to the eighth Caution when Newgarden spun himself at Turn 3 and was t-boned by Palou.

The eighth restart came on Lap 74 and Kirkwood passed Vautier on the run to Turn 3.

O’Ward lunged past Power for seventh on Lap 77 as Vautier slid down the order.

Fuel was a question mark for Dixon and he was into lift-and-coast mode with about 20 laps remaining, his lead dropping back under three seconds.

Herta had got his lap back but Dixon’s cause was being helped by Armstrong’s resistance to the pressure from Kirkwood in the battle for second place.

Meanwhile, Newgarden pitted again after damaging the left-rear toe link when he glanced the wall exiting Turn 9.

Kirkwood’s challenge to Armstrong had faded by the time Ericsson passed him for third on Lap 89.

Dixon led by 1.9s with 10 laps to go with Herta just ahead of him on-road and the latter’s team-mate, Ericsson, reeling in the #9 and #11 Ganassi entries.

Lundgaard passed O’Ward for sixth on Lap 93 while Ericsson had caught Armstrong on Lap 94 and Dixon was struggling to stay a full second ahead.

Dixon was frustrated at being held up by Herta but cleared him as they exited Turn 3 on Lap 96 and the six-time champion bolted to a two-second lead.

Lundgaard passed Rossi for fifth on Lap 97, by which time Power had overtaken O’Ward for seventh.

Ericsson finally dived past Armstrong on Lap 99 at Turn 3, the next target being Dixon at 2.5s up the road.

It was 1.8s when they took the white flag but the Swede ran out of time to catch ‘The Ice Man’.

Armstrong limped to third, from Kirkwood, Rossi, Power, O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist (#60 MSR Honda), Ferrucci, and Pourchaire, with Lundgaard 11th after a late pit stop and Herta 19th.

The season continues next weekend at Road America (June 7-9, local time).

Results: Race, Streets of Detroit

Race winner: 100 laps

Series points