Scott Dixon did it again — and left his NTT IndyCar Series rivals just as dumbstruck as ever.
The six-time series champion reaffirmed his unmatched prowess for saving fuel in the NTT IndyCar Series, winning the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach by stretching his final tank of fuel for 34 laps. With his 57th career victory, Dixon extended his record streak to 20 consecutive seasons with at least one win.
And afterward, no one could figure out — again — how he’d done it.
“I was behind him and just watching him sail off into the distance saving fuel,” 2023 Long Beach winner Kyle Kirkwood told NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch after finishing seventh. “We’re hitting the same number as him, and he’s just sailing away. That was crazy to watch.”
The three finishers directly behind Dixon — Alex Palou, Colton Herta and Josef Newgarden — all expressed varying degrees of amazement that the No. 9 Dallara-Honda driver had managed to pull it off again.
Perhaps no one had better perspective than Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Alex Palou, who concluded “only Dixie could make it work.
“I don’t think I could have made it work like Scott did,” Palou said. “I was not surprised that he took it because he knows he can make it work. I don’t know how. Yeah, I’ll study that probably tonight.
“Once he took (the lead), I was like, ‘He’s going to make it work.’ I don’t know. It’s super tough if you know the numbers he has to get, what he has to do driving-wise. ... I don’t know how. Probably he’s cheating and he has an extra fuel cell that I don’t know yet.”
Palou quickly noted he was just joking, of course. The two-time series champion has full access to Dixon’s data and setup information, so he knows the No. 9 is on the level — just on another level when Dixon is behind the wheel and managing fuel strategy.
This is Dixon’s fourth victory in the past six IndyCar races dating to last summer, and at least three of them (Indy road course, Gateway and Long Beach) were impacted by fuel saving.
“Yeah, it doesn’t always work out,” Dixon said. “It’s a difficult discipline, trying to make sure before the race that you know you’re going to need a car that really rolls well through the corner if you do get into a position like this. It’s not just all about technique. There’s a lot of steps to take to get to there. Even for me today, I wasn’t sure we were going to get that. When you do, it feels damn good.”
Here are the IndyCar results and points standings Sunday after the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach:
RESULTS
Click here for the box score from the 85-lap race on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street course in Long Beach, California.
Event summary
Lap leader summary
Lap chart
Section results
Best section times
Pit stop summary
Here is the finishing order in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach with starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (8) Scott Dixon, Honda, 85, Running
2. (4) Colton Herta, Honda, 85, Running
3. (6) Alex Palou, Honda, 85, Running
4. (3) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 85, Running
5. (5) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 85, Running
6. (2) Will Power, Chevrolet, 85, Running
7. (10) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 85, Running
8. (16) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 85, Running
9. (1) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 85, Running
10. (13) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 85, Running
11. (22) Theo Pourchaire, Chevrolet, 85, Running
12. (9) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 85, Running
13. (17) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 85, Running
14. (18) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 85, Running
15. (20) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 85, Running
16. (14) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 85, Running
17. (12) Graham Rahal, Honda, 85, Running
18. (25) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 85, Running
19. (26) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 84, Running
20. (27) Nolan Siegel, Honda, 84, Running
21. (24) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 84, Running
22. (15) Tom Blomqvist, Honda, 84, Running
23. (7) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 84, Running
24. (19) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 84, Running
25. (23) Jack Harvey, Honda, 83, Running
26. (11) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 71, Running
27. (21) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 14, Contact
Winner’s average speed: 98.350 mph; Time of Race: 1 hour, 42 minutes, 3.1416 seconds; Margin of victory: 0.9798 of a second; Cautions: One for four laps; Lead changes: 8 among 6 drivers. Lap leaders: Rosenqvist 1; Power 2-16; Newgarden 17-29; Herta 30-32; Dixon 33-50; Kirkwood 51; Newgarden 52-57; Herta 58-61; Dixon 62-85.
POINTS
Click here for the points tally in Sunday’s race.
Here are the points standings after the second race for:
Drivers
Engine manufacturers
Entrants
Pit stop performance
Top 10 in points: Newgarden 87, Dixon 75, Herta 72, Palou 63, Power 61, O’Ward 54, Rosenqvist 50, Kirkwood 45, Rossi 44, McLaughlin 40.
Rest of the standings: VeeKay 36, Ericsson 35, Grosjean 30, Ferrucci 28, Canapino 27, Rahal 27, Simpson 27, Lundqvist 24, Armstrong 23, Blomqvist 21, Fittipaldi 21, Pourchaire 19, Lundgaard 18, Robb 17, Callum Ilott 17, Harvey 16, Rasmussen 14, Siegel 10, Colin Braun 8.
PAST RESULTS
Round 1, St. Petersburg
$1 Million Challenge at The Thermal Club
NEXT
The NTT IndyCar Series will race April 28 at Barber Motorsports Park (1 p.m. ET, NBC and Peacock). Click here for the full IndyCar on NBC schedule in 2024.
