Dixon won in St. Louis and is still in contention for the title

Mathieu Warnier, Media365, posted on Mon Aug 28 2023 00:10

As Josef Newgarden said goodbye to his IndyCar title, Scott Dixon kept his chances ahead of Alex Ballou thanks to his success on the Gateway Oval circuit ahead of Pato Oward and David Mallukas, his second in a row.

The title race has not yet been played in IndyCar. With three races to go, Alex Ballou earned his first “match point” at the St. Louis 500K, contested at the Gateway Oval. Indeed, the Spaniard had to take seven points off his nearest rival Scott Dixon to lift his second Astor Cup after claiming the title in 2021. But the Chip Ganassi Racing driver will have to wait at least a week of more to finish. Indeed, after his success two weeks ago during the second race at the Indianapolis circuit, Scott Dixon confirmed that he had not said his last word. Indeed, the New Zealander was able to apply his three-stop strategy to perfection in a race that marked the first use of two rubbers in a race contested on an oval. Thanks to the final lap of 64 laps, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver has managed to forget about the competition.

Dixon wrestles, and Newgarden sure pulls away

In fact, Patou Oward finished second, 22 seconds behind the winner, after making five pit stops over 260 laps. The McLaren driver had to fight off an attack by David Mallukas in the final laps, with half a second separating them at the checkered flag. With Portland hosting the penultimate round of the season next weekend, there are now only two drivers left in contention for the IndyCar Championship. In the right car for almost the entire race, Josef Newgarden made a mistake with 50 laps to go, when he had just come out of the pits on cold tyres. After his single seat was damaged, the winner of this year’s Indianapolis 500-mile race had to decide to be a spectator at the end of the event, ultimately finishing 25th. a situation that now pushes him too far away from Alex Ballou to hope to steal. Romain Grosjean, whose Andretti Autosport seat was threatened by the announcement of the arrival of Marcus Ericsson next season alongside Kyle Kirkwood and Colton Herta, finished 12th under the checkered flag.

IndyCar/St. Louis 500 km
Final classification – 260 laps (523.120 km) – Sunday 27 August 2023
1- Scott Dixon (NZL/Chip Ganassi Racing)
1- Scott Dixon (New Zealand / Chip Ganassi Racing) 2:10’09”4046
2- Pato Award (Mexico/McLaren) by 22 minutes and 2256 minutes
3- David Mallukas (USA/Dale Coen Racine with HMD Motorsports) 22min 7279min.
4- Alexander Rossi (USA/McLaren) 1 lap
5- Scott McLaughlin (New Zealand/Team Penske) 1 lap
…
12- Romain Grosjean (FRA/Andretti Autosport) 1 lap down
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Drivers’ Championship standings after 15 races (out of 17)
1- Alex Ballou (ESP/Chip Ganassi Racing) 565 points
2- Scott Dixon (New Zealand/Chip Ganassi Racing) 491
3- Josef Newgarden (USA/Team Penske) 440
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12- Romain Grosjean (FRA/Andretti Autosport) 271
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28- Simon Pagenaud (FRA/Mayer-Schunk Racing) 88
…