Scott Dixon uncatchable in Detroit Race 2

Resilience and determination fueled Scott Dixon to a commanding win in the Chevrolet Grand Prix of Detroit Race 2.

Dixon encountered a rare crash in yesterday’s race and qualified sixth for today’s race. That didn’t slow him down as he led 44 laps on the way to his 44th career win.

Polesitter Josef Newgarden led Rossi through the first corners as Zach Veach and Colton Herta followed. Calamity ensued behind them as contact between Will Power and Felix Rosenqvist triggered a multi-car accident which collected Patricio O’Ward, Tony Kanaan and Simon Pagenaud.

The subsequent yellow flag brought the majority of the field down pit road to switch from the alternate red tyres to the primary blacks. Newgarden, Rossi and Veach exited the pits in seventh, eighth and 14th, respectively.

Dixon moved to the lead ahead of Spencer Pigot, Power, Santino Ferrucci, Graham Rahal and Max Chilton.

Power dropped out of the top five when his No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet suddenly came to a halt with suspected gearbox trouble. The Aussie eventually got going and resumed the race at the end of the line.

Dixon gapped Pigot at the restart and stretched out to nearly a second lead after just one lap as Newgarden wrested fifth place away from Max Chilton.

Dixon’s red tyres quickly deteriorated which allowed Ferrucci to pass him for the lead on Lap 14. The Kiwi decided to ditch the reds and make his pitstop. Spencer Pigot elected to do the same but was hit by Sebastien Bourdais while trying to duck onto pit road.

The incident brought out the second full course yellow just as Dixon made his pitstop. The caution saw a few mid-markers pit with Marcus Ericsson, Takuma Sato, Power, Matheus Leist, Chilton, Andretti and Hunter-Reay.

That left the two leaders – Ferrucci and Rahal – as the final cars not to pit as they started the race on the primaries as they lined up for the Lap 20 restart.

The ex-Rich Energy Haas F1 test driver gapped Rahal over the next handful of laps as the majority of the field cycled through their pitstops.

Rahal stopped on lap 32 which moved James Hinchcliffe to second. The Canadian pitted a lap later and merged into traffic in ninth ahead of Newgarden and Rossi. Drama ramped up from there as Newgarden Newgarden lost control in Turn 3 while all three were in close quarters.

The incident knocked Newgarden and Hinchcliffe out of contention while Rossi soldiered on.

The caution ruined Ferrucci’s strategy and forced him to pit under the yellow. That elevated Dixon to the lead ahead of Marcus Ericsson, Takuma Sato, Hunter-Reay and Andretti.

Dixon’s lead over Ericsson grew to two seconds as Sato and Hunter-Reay followed with Marco Andretti completing the top five. Dixon traded the lead off to Ericsson on Lap 45 when he made his final stop.

Ericsson led just one lap before making his final stop, which promoted Will Power to the lead for two laps. Power’s stop on Lap 49 the pit cycle with Dixon back in front with two seconds up on the field.

That secure margin vanished when James Hinchcliffe stalled on course on Lap 55 and brought out the yellow.

The yellow only saw the Carlin Racing teammates of Max Chilton and Patricio O’Ward pit. Dixon performed another clean restart while Takuma Sato and Felix Rosenqvist jostled for position which cut the Japanese driver’s tire.

Dixon drew out a 3 second lead in six laps only to see it evaporate again when teammate Felix Rosenqvist crashed in Turn 1. The incident brought out a red flag to ensure a green finish.

A six-minute red flag set the stage for a four-lap shootout to settle the race. Dixon flanked the Swede on the restart and built up a 1.94-second lead at the checkered flag.

Ericsson held off Power to finish second which stands as his best finish in IndyCar after migrating from Formula 1 this year.

Ryan Hunter-Reay led an Andretti Autosport trio sweep of positions 4-6 ahead of Rossi and Andretti.

2017 Detroit winner Graham Rahal ended up seventh ahead of Zach Veach and the Dale Coyne Racing teammates Bourdais and Ferrucci.

Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud returned to the track after crashing on Lap 1 and salvaged a 17th place finish. His points leading teammate Josef Newgarden did the same and finished 19th.