Dixon – Last and First in Detroit Indy Car Weekend

This is why they run the race…

Scott Dixon recovered from a crash and last-place finish on Saturday to win the second race of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday. The victory was the 45th of the five-time IndyCar Series champion’s career and moved Dixon within seven wins of tying Mario Andretti for second on the all-time Indy car list.

Josef Newgarden, driver of the #2 Hitachi Team Penske IndyCar Chevrolet V6, won on Saturday, during the first of two weekend Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix races on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. The win solidified Newgarden’s spot – for the moment only – as the top driver in the point standings. Rossi, Dixon, Pagenaud and Sato all drive like a series winner. (Honda Fastest in Practice for Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix)

On Sunday, Dixon crossed the Raceway at Belle Isle Park finish line 1.9419 seconds ahead of rookie Marcus Ericsson, who posted his first podium finish in his eighth series race. Dixon led 44 laps in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda – including the last 21 on the 14-turn, 2.35-mile temporary and bumpy street course.

IMSA

The Aim Vasser Sullivan (AVS) No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 scored its second consecutive victory in the GTD class at the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a win on Saturday at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park with co-drivers Jack Hawksworth and Richard Heistand. The win marks the fourth for Lexus in IMSA competition and the second for Aim Vasser Sullivan in just the team’s fourth IMSA race.

DPi

Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron, co-drivers of the No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi, accomplished something that never has been done since IMSA began racing on Detroit’s Belle Isle Park.

Before Saturday, GM race cars won their Dpi class in all nine IMSA races held on Belle Isle from 2007 through 2018, including overall victories from 2012 through last year. But on Saturday, Montoya and Cameron came away with their second consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory in a tight, 100-minute battle.

After claiming the Motul Pole Award in qualifying Friday, Montoya got the jump at the start to take the lead, which he held for the first 19 laps of what was a 58-lap race before pitting under the second of the race’s five full-course caution periods to turn the car over to Cameron. Montoya’s stop gave the lead over to Tristan Nunez, who was on a different pit-stop strategy in the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest RT24-P DPi.

Following the restart, Cameron picked up where Montoya left off, taking the lead away from Nunez on the first green-flag lap. Cameron lost the lead for one more lap when he came in for his final pit stop but retook the lead on Lap 35 and held it.