Dixon stifles 12-year wait with Indianapolis GP win

INDIANAPOLIS — It took Scott Dixon 12 years to make a second trip to Victory Lane at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The New Zealander already is plotting a third trip next month.

The 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner ended what had been a frustrating quest for a second Brickyard win, beating Graham Rahal to the checkered flag by 19.9469 seconds Saturday in the GMR Grand Prix for his first IndyCar Grand Prix title.

“It’s really nice to get another win at Indianapolis even though it’s not the big one,” Dixon said. “It is significant, man, to win at this place. Sometimes you need a little bit of luck, and sometimes you need a clean race like we had today.”

Dixon donned a face mask as he raised his arms and pumped his fist inside the recently redone winner’s circle. The stands were empty, and the usual celebratory noise was almost nonexistent.

After three consecutive runner-up finishes in this race and a resume full of near-misses and bad luck on Indy’s 2.5-mile oval, Dixon couldn’t have scripted a better strategy for the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.

He opted to start on the slower black tires and maneuvered through the field after starting seventh. Then, a few laps after pitting to put on the reds, Dixon got the break he needed when rookie Oliver Askew crashed into the outside wall as he tried to enter the front straightaway.

Dixon controlled most of the second half of the 80-lap race, helped in part when pole winner Will Power stalled in the pits.

When he made a clean pass of Rahal, it was only a matter of time before Dixon chalked up his 48th IndyCar win. Only A.J. Foyt (67) and Mario Andretti (52) have more.

Dixon’s victory broke up Team Penske’s monopoly on winning this race.

■ At Indianapolis, Chase Briscoe put on four new tires in a late pit stop and beat runner-up Justin Haley by 1.717 seconds in the Pennzoil 150. The victory was the Indiana native’s second straight, third in the past four races and fifth of the season.

Las Vegan Noah Gragson placed third. A.J. Allmendinger and Austin Cindric faded to fourth and fifth after bumping hard over the final few laps, when the top three cars were within one second of one another.

■ At Spielberg, Austria, Valtteri Bottas edged Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton by .012 seconds to take pole position for Sunday’s season-opening Austrian Grand Prix. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who has won the past two years here, qualified third.

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