Scott Dixon Tag

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Journalist SONOMA, California – Scott Dixon’s unblemished championship run looked even better during Friday’s opening practice sessions for the INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma. The driver of the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing ended the day behind fellow title rival and reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden. Dixon, who holds a 29-point lead over Alexander Rossi heading into Sunday’s race, noted that the lack of grip on the 2.385-mile road course made finding an ideal setup quite challenging. “I think everybody hasRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Oregon — Four drivers remain eligible for the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series championship crown but if anyone is going to beat Scott Dixon, it might take divine intervention at this point. Dixon was involved in the first lap incident that took out Marco Andretti and Ed Jones and delayed Graham Rahal and James Hinchcliffe. Once the metaphorical and literal dust cleared, Dixon drove back to the pits without losing a lap. Later in the race he was clocked at 50.2 mph in the pits whenRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Oregon — In a less than ideal 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season, Gabby Chaves managed to give Harding Racing his best finish of the year with a 13th place finish in Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland. After starting 21st, Chaves found himself in 11th place following the first lap mayhem involving James Hinchcliffe, Graham Rahal, Ed Jones, Scott Dixon, Zach Veach and Marco Andretti. The 2014 Indy Lights champion ran in the top 10 in the early third of the race before his first pitRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Oregon — The biggest concern happened at Portland International Raceway Sunday, first lap chaos. Not at the grueling chicane known as the Festival Curve, but at the entry of Turn 3. INDYCAR’s return to Portland saw a dramatic six-car crash right out of the gate, and it began when Zach Veach pinched James Hinchcliffe, resulting into contact and caused a huge ripple effect on several competitors, and potential championship implications. Once Hinchcliffe spun around, Sebastien Bourdais ran into the front of Hinchcliffe, and collected Jones,Read More

By INDYCAR PORTLAND, Oregon – Takuma Sato went to victory lane in Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland, but Scott Dixon felt like a winner, too. Alexander Rossi had mixed feelings. Dixon salvaged what could have been a disastrous points day relative to the Verizon IndyCar Series championship by finishing fifth. Rossi had bad luck of a different kind but managed to scramble back to finish eighth, losing just three points to Dixon, the leader in the season standings. GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND: Official results One double-points race remains: the INDYCAR GrandRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Oregon — With speculation about 2019 becoming more and more frequent by the day, Chip Ganassi Racing driver Ed Jones managed to shut all of that off to qualify in eighth position for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland – the penultimate race in the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Jones went around the 1.964-mile road course with a quick time of 57.6499 seconds to average 122.644 mph. Teammate and points leader Scott Dixon went around in 57.8554 seconds to qualify 11th fastest. Jones has beenRead More

By INDYCAR PORTLAND, Oregon – Will Power continued to show he’s serious about getting back into Verizon IndyCar Series title contention by posting the fastest lap of Friday’s second practice session at Portland International Raceway. The winner of last week’s race at Gateway Motorsports Park turned a lap of 57.4053 seconds (123.166 mph) in the No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet to best the field of 25 entrants in that session. Power will head to Saturday’s qualifications seeking his fourth pole of the season and the 54th of his career. PowerRead More

By INDYCAR PORTLAND, Oregon – Sebastien Bourdais has raced at Portland International Raceway five times in his Indy car career, winning Champ Car races in 2004 and 2007. But after his first laps in the 2018 Indy car at Portland, he felt like he was visiting for the first time. “It’s narrower than I remember it,” the four-time Indy car champion said during a break Thursday at INDYCAR’s Open Test at the track. “The width goes from super-wide to very narrow. It’s probably the narrowest place we go all season.Read More

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Journalist MADISON, Illinois – A late fuel gamble in Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 allowed Alexander Rossi to close the championship fight with Scott Dixon to 26 points. The driver of the No. 27 Napa Auto Parts Honda finished second behind Will Power by going 71 laps on his final tank of Sunoco E85 fuel. Having won the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 on fuel strategy, Rossi is no stranger to making fuel gambles work. While he didn’t pull off the win, he found a silverRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor MADISON, Ill. — Post-race review and analysis from the Verizon IndyCar Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park. Who Won?  Will Power. The Australian surged around pole-sitter Scott Dixon on Lap 150 and overcame Alexander Rossi’s late fuel strategy play to earn his third win of 2018. Top Stories Minor Gains The summer’s IndyCar championship battle between veteran leader Scott Dixon and scrappy challenger Alexander Rossi hasn’t been a tale of big swings or surprises. It’s been a battle in the trenches, and in recent weeks Rossi’s had the upperRead More