Dixon dominates crash-free IndyCar Series race at Texas

FORT WORTH, Texas — Scott Dixon had a dominating run at Texas Motor Speedway, winning the Firestone 600 by 7.8 seconds over teammate Tony Kanaan on Saturday night in the fastest IndyCar Series race ever at the track.

Dixon led 97 of the 248 laps in a race that had only two cautions. His second victory of the season came with an average speed of 191.940 mph

After concern about how the cars would handle on the high-speed, highbanked Texas track with the new aero kits — especially after three Chevrolets went airborne during practice for the Indianapolis 500 — there were no accidents.

Driving the No. 9 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing, Dixon got his 37th career win. The New Zealander also won in 2008 at Texas, which has now hosted 27 IndyCar races.

Team Penske drivers Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya finished third and fourth, respectively. Fifth-place Marco Andretti was the highest-finishing Honda.

After the start of the race was waved off because the field was not properly aligned, the first lap was counted as a caution before taking the green flag the next time at the line.

The only other caution came on lap 84 for debris on the front stretch.

After the airborne cars at Indianapolis, IndyCar this week mandated the use of closure panels on the rear wheel guards. Those are designed to eliminate lift when an Indy car is traveling backward at a high rate of speed during an accident, and will also be required at California and Pocono.

Will Power started from the pole at Texas for the third year in a row but finished 13th, four laps off the pace. His only win in Texas came in the second race of a doubleheader in 2011 when he started third.

Defending race champion Ed Carpenter was done after only 147 laps because of mechanical issues. He finished 22nd in the 23-car field.

There was a surprise before the race. James Hinchcliffe gave the command for drivers to start their engines on video from his home in Indianapolis, where the driver is recovering after his left leg was pierced in a crash during Indianapolis 500 practice.

DEVELOPMENTS

Hamilton takes pole in Canada: Lewis Hamilton has earned the pole for the Canadian Grand Prix.

It’s the fourth time that the reigning Formula One champion will start at the pole on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Hamilton posted the fastest qualifying lap of 1 minute, 14.393 seconds Saturday over the 2.71-mile (4.361-km) course on Montreal’s Ile Notre-Dame. Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg was second in qualifying, about onethird of a second behind.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was third. Valtteri Bottas of Williams was fourth, with Romain Grosjean of Lotus fifth.

Hamilton leads the championship standings by 10 points over Rosberg.

Hamilton had the slowest best lap in the final practice Saturday morning, then turned it around in qualifying to earn the 44th career pole for the driver of car No. 44.

“It wasn’t the easiest of days, so I was going into qualifying a bit blind really,” he said. “But I won my first Grand Prix here, and to get my 44th pole here is very special for me.”

Brown leads Top Fuel qualifying: Antron Brown raced to his third consecutive No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel on Saturday in the Toyota NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park at Englishtown, New Jersey.

Brown made the No. 1 spot with a 3.725-second run at 317.57 mph.

Cruz Pedregon topped the Funny Car field, Greg Anderson was the fastest in Pro Stock, and Chip Ellis led the Pro Stock Motorcycle field.