Newgarden’s bad luck opens door for Dixon
It was shaping up to be defending champion Josef Newgarden’s day until he hit a wall and opened the way for Scott Dixon.
Newgarden, the two- time winner who started from the pole position Sunday, had a third Toronto IndyCar title in his sights. Then on Turn 11 of Lap 33, the American hit the wall, allowing Dixon to overtake him for the lead and get his third win in the event.
“When I saw it — the seas were parting — away we went, which for us, especially for the championship, he’s our closest competitor right now,” Dixon said. “That’s where our race was won today, through the bad luck or bad situation that Josef had.”
The New Zealand native f inished the 85- lap course on the streets surrounding Exhibition Place f irst, with Simon Pagenaud of France second. Robert Wickens was third, marking the third year in a row a Canadian landed on the podium.
The victory put the 37- year- old Dixon in some elite company with drivers with at least three wins in Toronto, joining Australia’s Will Power, Scotland’s Dario Franchitti and American Michael Andretti, who holds the record with seven.
It stretched Dixon’s lead over Newgarden in the standings to 62 points. Both have three wins this season.
Pagenaud and Wickens acknowledged it might be tough to stop Dixon from clinching the championship, heading into the Honda Indy 200 at Mid- Ohio, where he has won f ive times, in two weeks.
“Too many, yeah,” Pagenaud said. “Yeah, he’s good there. Sometimes he’s unlucky, too. We all [ are]. It’s just part of life. Get to work and find a way to beat him.”
Wickens added: “Is there a track he’s not good at?”
James Hinchcliffe of Canada was fourth after two straight years of third- place finishes.
Newgarden was leading for most of the f irst 32 laps on a hot and humid day. The start- time temperature was listed at about 80 degrees but felt like more like 95 degrees.
But when the 27- year- old hit the barrier, losing his top spot, he was slowed and caused a momentumturning pile- up at Turn 1 of the following lap. Ryan Hunter- Reay, Graham Rahal, Will Power, Max Chilton, Ed Jones, Alexander Rossi and Sebastien Bourdais were involved.
Dixon has been racing in Toronto since 1999 and said joining the likes of the retired Franchitti as a three- time winner has special meaning.
“Yeah, it’s pretty sweet. I’ll have to call Dario tonight and say I finally tied him at something,” he said. “But I love coming to Toronto. I feel like it’s kind of my closest home. I’m part of the Commonwealth, which is nice. Bit of a longshot there, but I’ll take it.”