IndyCar
PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon Wins GMR Grand Prix At Indianapolis
SPEEDWAY, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon picked up his 48th career win by taking the checkered flag in Saturday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES GMR Grand Prix on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“It’s so good to be back here racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” said Dixon, a 5-time Series Champion. “We’ve had so many runner-up finishes on the road course it was just nice to win one.”
Dixon, who finished second in the event the past three years, beat Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal by 20-seconds to pick up back-to-back wins to start a season for the first time in his illustrious career.
“It’s amazing to be able to pick up the first two wins of the season,” said Dixon. “But it doesn’t guarantee anything. We’ll just keep our heads down, we’ll keep trying to stay up front and get some points. It’s a great way to start but it doesn’t cement anything.”
Dixon is now 4-wins behind the legendary Mario Andretti (52 wins) for second place on the all-time INDYCAR wins list. A.J. Foyt is the all-time wins leader with 67.
“It’s amazing to be in the same conversation as these people,” said Dixon. “I remember looking back and watching races of Mario when I first came to America in 1997 and watching races of A.J. Foyt. They’re legends of the sport. I just feel lucky to be doing what I’m doing. It’s not just me. It’s the team behind us, it’s the partners like PNC Bank, it’s Chip, it’s Honda, it’s hundreds of people that make it possible so I just feel very special to be a part of it.”
Rahal’s 2nd place finish in the Fifth Third Bank Honda tied his best finish at the Indy GP which happened back in 2015.
“The Fifth Third Bank car was great today,” said Rahal. “I thought our guys did a tremendous job. Dixie had tremendous pace in the mid part of the race. I was on black (Firestone Primary) tires struggling a little bit. For our team after Dallas this feels really good.”
Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud finished third after starting deep in the field in the 20th position.
“Yesterday was not the day we wanted in qualifying,” said Pagenaud, who won last year’s GMR Grand Prix. “We unloaded well and went in the wrong direction. It was a negative for a positive because I think it sets us up this season really early on knowing what we need for the car. We weren’t totally happy when we started the race and we adjusted the car and it got better and better.”
Pagenaud’s Team Penske teammate Will Power started on the pole position and led the first 18-laps when the team decided to scrap plans for a 2-pit stop strategy after other teams decided that abandon that same strategy for 3-stop efforts.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey, who started second, inherited the lead until his pit stop on lap 19.
Rahal, who started fourth and moved up to third place by turn one, took the lead at that point and stuck with a three-stop strategy and reeled off quick laps until his first stop on lap 26.
Power regained the lead after the remainder of the cars on the two-stop strategy pitted for service.
Midway through the race a number of drivers on the three-stop strategy hit pit road for their second stops. Shortly thereafter Arrow McLaren SP’s Oliver Askew lost control coming onto the front stretch and smacked the wall hard bringing out the first caution of the race on lap 36.
“Really unfortunate,” said Askew, the 2019 IndyLights Champion and a rookie in NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition. “Unacceptable to have a result like that to be honest. I just lost the rear of the car. It was towards the end of my stint so the rears (tires) were starting to go away and it just really caught me off guard.”
Power and everyone who had not made their second stop hit pit road during the caution period on lap 39.
Several drivers including Rahal, Citrone-Buhl with RLL’s Spencer Pigot and Dixon stayed out.
“We started on the black tires and that sent us on a pretty aggressive 3-stopper,” explained Dixon. “That’s when our window was to pit and then three or four laps later the yellow came out and we were the ones that cycled to the front. Definitely a little bit of luck there and it hung out the leaders for sure but we had the pace.”
Rahal led the field back to green on lap 40 with Pigot, Conor Daly and Dixon closely behind.
On lap 42, a frustrating start to the 2020 season for Andretti Autosports Alexander Rossi continued as he suffered a mechanical issue forcing and end to his day. Rossi’s car failed to start at the beginning of the season opener at Texas where he eventually rallied to a 15th place finish.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Rossi. “We just lost power when we started trying to get going again. I think it potentially is a fuel pressure issue. We’ve had a couple of fuel pressure gremlins throughout the weekend. It’s a shame to have two of these weekends in-a-row.”
Dixon got around Daly on that same lap to move into third place with Colton Herta in tow. Dixon passed Pigot on lap 45, trailing Rahal by just under one second, so the battle of the banking sponsors was on.
Three laps later Dixon passed Rahal on the front stretch to take the lead. Dixon quickly built a five-second lead in just two laps, up to 8-seconds after nine laps and 9.3-seconds after ten laps.
Rahal hit pit road for his final service on lap 55 along with Pagenaud.
Dixon brought the No. 9 Honda to pit road a lap later, coming out in ninth place after service by his “Wolfpack” crew.
Pigot and Herta hit pit road for service a lap later and the pair came out in 13th and 14th respectively.
Josef Newgarden inherited the lead through that pit stop cycle and stayed out front until lap 62 when he came to pit road, giving the lead back to Dixon.
Dixon kept the hammer down, building a lead of over 15-seconds with ten laps to go in the race, 18-seconds with seven laps remaining, 18.7 seconds with five laps remaining, 19.5 with three laps to go and 20-seconds with one lap to go.
With Dixon checking out, the battle was on for second place between Rahal and Pagenaud with Rahal prevailing.
The most drama for Dixon and the entire PNC team were off-track excursions by Andretti Autosport drivers Marco Andretti and Zach Veach, who both cruised through the grass with less than five-laps remaining, however both were able to get back on track without brining out a caution.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES heads to Road America next weekend for a doubleheader on the scenic, natural terrain road course.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (July 2, 2026) – Six-time Series Champion Scott Dixon is leaving Chip Ganassi Racing following the conclusion of the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series Season the team announced in a statement Thursday before the series races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Complex this weekend.
MADISON, IL (Sunday, June 7, 2026) – The king of World Wide Technology Raceway has returned to his throne.
Josef Newgarden won for the sixth time in 11 starts at the 1.25-mile oval just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, enduring two rain delays during the race Sunday night to win a feverish, fascinating Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline. The victory was Newgarden’s second this season, as he also won in March at the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway oval.
SEE: Race Results
The two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion has captured 15 of his 34 career victories on ovals shorter than 1.5 miles. This win came as he was still recovering from a lower leg injury suffered two weeks ago in the 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
“Great job to the group,” Newgarden said. “Just a methodical night. We had a good car to start. It wasn’t perfect, but it really came to us just when we needed it. It was a track position day.”
Newgarden, who started eighth, drove his No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet to victory by .6613 of a second over the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda of fellow Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, who still managed a season-best finish. Christian Rasmussen finished a season-best third in the No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet of ECR.
Rinus VeeKay continued the trend of season-best finishes by ending up fourth in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, with Scott McLaughlin rounding out the top five in the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet that featured a throwback livery honoring the 2009 Indianapolis 500-winning car driven by Helio Castroneves.
Newgarden took the lead for good on Lap 221 after a spirited duel with Rasmussen that began almost immediately after a restart on Lap 212. Rasmussen dove under Newgarden in Turn 1 for the lead on Lap 215, but Newgarden drove past Rasmussen in Turn 3 for the top spot on Lap 219.
One lap later, Rasmussen again drove under Newgarden for the lead in Turn 1, one of his race-high 38 on-track passes. But Newgarden countered again in Turn 3 one lap later for a lead he would not surrender. It was the most decisive of an event-record 268 passes for position in this frantic race.
Ericsson sped under Rasmussen for second in Turn 3 on Lap 225 and set his sights on Newgarden. But one lap later, a plume of smoke trailed from the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet fielded by A.J. Foyt Enterprises for Caio Collet, who was enjoying the best race of his rookie season by leading seven laps and running consistently in the top five in the second half of the race.
That triggered the last of four caution periods, with another wrinkle to concern Newgarden and the lead pack. A host of trailing cars entered the pits for fresh Firestone Firehawk tires, while the top eight cars stayed out.
McLaughlin made a spirited charge toward the front on the restart on Lap 234, climbing from ninth to fifth in just four laps. But the Kiwi and the other cars that pitted for tires didn’t have enough traction from the fresher rubber or speed to challenge the top four down the stretch.
Meanwhile, Newgarden maintained a gap of around one-half of a second over Ericsson over the closing 10 laps and never was threatened.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Marcus,” Newgarden said. “I thought he was incredibly strong. I don’t really think there was much between us, so it was a matter of who was going to get position on each other, and that was going to seal the deal. He drove a great race.”
Said Ericsson, seeking his first win since March 2023 at St. Petersburg: “I’m very proud of our performance, but at the same time it’s tough to lead that many laps … I thought we had it at some points, but Josef is the best in the business on these short ovals.”
Two red-flag periods totaling 50 minutes kept strategists’ heads spinning on the pit wall as various permutations and fuel options were considered.
Chip Ganassi Racing rolled the dice earlier in the race by calling NTT P1 Award winner Alex Palou and his teammate Scott Dixon to the pits to top off fuel as soon as the pits opened after the first red flag period, which lasted 38 minutes. The hope was to get enough caution to need one fewer fuel stop than rivals or be out front when a race-ending rain shower arrived.
But neither happened, and Palou paid the price dearly.
The four-time series champion entered the pits on Lap 203, two laps after Dixon had to enter a closed pit for emergency service as his No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was running out of fuel. Palou’s No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda sputtered when it entered the pit lane and ran out of fuel, and he was forced to coast to his pit box for a stop made even longer when his engine wouldn’t refire.
Palou’s car restarted, and he returned to the track to finish 17th. The two short oval races this season have been Palou’s Achilles’ heel. He finished 24th after contact in March at Phoenix, and that result and tonight’s disappointing showing are his only finishes outside of the top seven all season.
Reigning series champion Palou’s lead in the standings was trimmed to 49 points over Kyle Kirkwood, who finished sixth in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda of Andretti Global.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America on Sunday, June 21 at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
MADISON, IL (June 6, 2026) – Alex Palou and the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing team are continuing to lay down fast laps when it counts with Palou earning the pole position for Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway. The pole position is Palou’s fourth straight NTT P1 Pole award.
“It was incredible and so much fun, especially that first lap,” said Palou, who turned a two-lap average speed of 174.353 mph in the No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. “The #10 Honda Honda had so much speed. The team I have around me is incredible. My car was on rails today; it was incredible.”
David Malukas starts second in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet after a two-lap average of 173.244 mph. Malukas could only look on in disbelief as Palou knocked him off the pole.
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood starts third in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda following a two-lap average of 173.206 mph.
“ It was a good run for us,” said Kirkwood, the 2025 WWWT Raceway winner. “P3 is a really good starting spot and we can definitely do some great things from there. Last year we won from 10th, so it’s nice to be able to be at the front.”
2026 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Felix Rosenqvist starts fourth in the No. 60 SiriusXM Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Honda.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin will start 5th in the No. 3 Dex Imaging Chevrolet.
Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon starts 7th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda and CGR’s Kyffin Simpson will start 14th in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda.
Television coverage of Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 begins at 8 PM CT / 9 PM ET on Fox. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the INDYCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation (Channel 160).
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