Scott Dixon. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
New Zealand’s Scott Dixon held off Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato of Japan over the final laps on Saturday to win the Bommarito 500 and stretch his IndyCar season points lead.
Six days after Sato held off Dixon late to capture his second Indy 500 victory, it was Dixon who managed to keep Sato at bay long enough to take the chequered flag at Madison, Illinois.
“Sato was going to be strong at the end, but I didn’t realise how strong he was coming,” Dixon said.
“We were kind of going into a reserve mode, looking after the engine, and he was there with a head of steam.
“Last week at Indianapolis was a bit of a bummer, so it was nice to get a win.”
It was the 50th career IndyCar victory for Dixon, two shy of Mario Andretti for second on the all-time list and 17 off AJ Foyt’s career record.
“Fifty – that sounds awesome,” Dixon said. “We’ve got to keep on trucking and get a few more.”
The 40-year-old Kiwi improved his points lead over defending champion Josef Newgarden of the United States to 386-269 with Mexican rookie Pato O’Ward, third in the race, third on points on 256.
Sato said early struggles and a poor pit stop proved too much to overcome.
“From last week, we carried a lot of momentum,” Sato said. “We lost some places at the beginning of the race. I wasn’t entirely comfortable in the car. But we were strong.
“It sometimes happens in a race, I make a mistake, there’s a mechanical problem – that pit stop was frustrating.”
Results on Saturday in the IndyCar race at 1.25-mile (2km) World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois:
1. Scott Dixon (NZL/Chip Ganassi Racing) 200 laps in 1hr 44min 30.7444sec (avg speed: 143.522 mph/231 Km/h)
2. Takuma Sato (JPN/Rahal Letterman Racing) at .1404sec
3. Pato O’Ward (MEX/Arrow McLaren) same lap
3. Colton Herta (USA/Andretti Autosport) s.l.
4. Marcus Ericsson (SWE/Chip Ganassi Racing) s.l.
5. Rinus VeeKay (NED/Ed Carpenter Racing) s.l.
6. Ryan Hunter-Reay (USA/Andretti Autosport) s.l.
7. Felix Rosenqvist (SWE/Chip Ganassi Racing) s.l.
8. Tony Kanaan (BRA/AJ Foyt enterprises) S.l.
9. Conor Daly (USA/Carlin) s.l.
10. Jack Harvey (GBR/Meyer Shank Racing) s.l.
Standings after eight races: 1. Dixon (NZL) 386 pts, 2. Newgarden (USA) 269, 3. O’Ward (MEX) 256, 4. Sato (JPN) 248, 5. Graham Rahal (USA) 226, 6. Simon Pagenaud (FRA) 223