Scott Dixon, the four-time IndyCar champion, dominated in his return to Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday. The New Zealand native guided his #9 Target-sponsored Chip Ganassi Racing machine to the lead after a mid-race caution and never looked back. It was Scott Dixon’s 39th career IndyCar Series victory in the first race at Phoenix International Raceway since March 9th, 2005. The victory moved Dixon into second place in the point standings just ahead of Verizon driver Juan Pablo Montoya.
The race was decided when both Team Penske owned drivers struggled with tire issues at the mid way portion of the contest. Scott Dixon took full advantage and passed Tony Kanaan’s #10 GED Light LED race car in the pits. Dixon used a mix of superior speed and handling to lead the last 155 laps around the speedway.
“It was tough,” Dixon said in victory lane. “It was definitely one of the toughest races — on these short ovals. … The car was super fast. I think we had the best car out there. We got a lot done on strategy and pit stops, and the crew did an amazing job, but we were extremely fast.”
Pole sitter Helio Castroneves led the first 39 laps of the event, but sliced a tire and had to limp his Penske owned Chevrolet into the pits. By the time Castroneves returned to racing he found himself two laps down and a non-factor for the afternoon. About 40 revolutions later, teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, suffered almost the same problem as his tire also was sliced and sent him into the pits for a change.
“Anytime I pushed behind somebody, I picked up the same vibrations,” Montoya said. “Being where we were, the last thing we needed was to go two laps down for another tire, so I just couldn’t do anything.”
Simon Pagenaud and Will Power, Verizon’s other two sponsored drivers finished second and third. They claimed that the debris that hampered Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya was on track related but others wonder if the two speedsters were over aggressive on they’re set-ups and caused the problems on their own.
Will Power, a previous IndyCar champion, climbed back into his Roger Penske owned hot-rod for the first time of the young season. Power missed the St. Petersburg Gran Prix last week due to a concussion. Power started the race in the ninth spot and methodically moved his car to the top five were he raced for the rest of the afternoon. Power picked up 35 points with the third-place finish, moving him within 47 of Pagenaud’s lead.
“Obviously, for me it’s just finishing tonight and we’ll see as the season goes along, just have fun with it, not really any pressure and we’ll see what happens in the end,” Power said. “It’s a very long championship and you’ve got a couple double-points races. I think I can crawl back.”
Sixth place finisher Josef Newgarden displayed some considerable speed in the first portion of the race. His chances of taking the checkered flag out in front were diminished when fellow racer Charlie Kimball drove down on Newgarden’s Fuzzy’s Vodka/Direct Supply sponsored machine. Kimball clipped his challengers front wing sending both into the pits and out of contention for first.
Max Chilton finished in seventh place after starting from the eighth spot. Chilton’s finish made three Chip Ganassi owned machines in the top ten. Ninth place went to the #2 Verizon sponsored Chevrolet of Juan Pablo Montoya. It was clear early on that Montoya’s car had what it took to get the job done but had to settle in the back half of the top ten. Tenth went to Andretti Auto Sport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay.
The 2016 Desert Diamond West Gran Prix of Phoenix took one hour and 49 minutes to complete. There were six cautions for 55 laps and the race ended under the sixth and final caution. The average speed of the race cars was 139.882 miles per hour. The contest only had two lead changes throughout the afternoon. The competitors turned 250 revolutions on the 1.022 mile paved track.
Phoenix International Raceway is typically stuffed to the brim for the two NASCAR races of the year, but the IndyCar Series event didn’t draw the same kind of crowd. Empty seats could be seen all throughout the stands and getting to and from the track presented no problems whatsoever. The next race is scheduled for April 17th on The Streets of Long Beach. Scott Dixon won last years race there.
Final Results for the Desert Diamond West Gran Prix of Phoenix:
1. (6) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.
2. (10) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.
3. (9) Will Power, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.
4. (2) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.
5. (19) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running.
6. (7) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.
7. (8) Max Chilton, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.
8. (15) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.
9. (3) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.
10. (12) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running.
11. (1) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.
12. (4) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.
13. (11) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running.
14. (14) Alexander Rossi, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running.
15. (20) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 249, Running.
16. (18) Conor Daly, Dallara-Honda, 249, Running.
17. (13) Mikhail Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 248, Running.
18. (22) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 248, Running.
19. (17) Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 246, Running.
20. (16) Luca Filippi, Dallara-Honda, 243, Running.
21. (5) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevrolet, 195, Contact.
22. (21) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 116, Contact.
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