Race recap: Scott Dixon wins IndyCar at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The IndyCar Series races on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for the second time in 2023 in the Gallagher Grand Prix.

Graham Rahal earned a pole position for the first time in six years, and teammate Christian Lundgaard will start beside him on the front row on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile layout. The 85-lap race covers 207.32 miles. Josef Newgarden, second place in the IndyCar points standings to Alex Palou, was assessed a 6-position grid penalty Saturday morning for making an unapproved engine change. He had qualified 19th.

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Scott Dixon wins IndyCar race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Scott Dixon sets one record and extends another.

The 6-time IndyCar Series champion, driving in his record-setting 319th consecutive race, earns a victory in his record-extending 19th straight season on the IMS road course. Tony Kanaan drove in 318 straight IndyCar races.

Dixon gets spun on Lap 1 and pits on Lap 5, but his trademark patience and his team's strategy allow him to take the checkered flag by holding off hard-charging pole-sitter Graham Rahal by less than one-half second. Dixon also moves into 2nd in the series points race, 101 behind leader and Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Alex Palou, who finishes 7th.

Dixon has 54 career IndyCar wins, 2nd to A.J. Foyt's 67.

Pato O'Ward completes the podium, followed by Christian Lundgaard and Alexander Rossi.

Rahal's season at IMS has been filled with lows and highs. He failed to qualified for the Indianapolis 500 in May, but got into the field when he replaced Stefan Wilson, who suffered a back injury in a post-qualifying crash. He scores his season-best finish.

∎ Will Power (16th to 6th) and David Malukas improve (27th to 17th) the most positions from start to finish, while Felix Rosenqvist sustains the biggest drop with a late mechanical failure (from 9th to 27th).

∎ Lap leaders: Rahal, 36; Dixon, 34; Devlin DeFrancesco, 8, Lundgaard, 7.

∎ On-track passes: Palou, 36, Rahal, 34, Colton Herta, 18; Power, 16, Callum Ilott, 15.

IndyCar results at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

1. Scott Dixon

2. Graham Rahal

3. Pato O'Ward

4. Christian Lundgaard

5. Alexander Rossi

6. Will Power

7. Alex Palou

8. Scott McLaughlin

9. Kyle Kirkwood

10. Marcus Ericsson

11. Rinus VeeKay

12. Linus Lundqvist

13. Colton Herta

14. Jack Harvey

15. Helio Castroneves

16. David Malukas

17. Callum Ilott

18. Romain Grosjean

19. Devlin DeFrancesco

20. Ryan Hunter-Reay

21. Agustin Canapino

22. Sting Ray Robb

23. Santino Ferrucci

24. Marcus Armstrong

25. Josef Newgarden

26. Marcus Pedersen

27. Felix Rosenqvist

Gallagher Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Lap 80 leaders: Scott Dixon's lead on Graham Rahal is under 2 seconds as Dixon is conserving fuel and faces lapped traffic ahead. Pato O'Ward and Christian Lundgaard are battling for 3rd. Alexander Rossi is 5th.

Lap 70 leaders: Scott Dixon has a 4+-second edge on Graham Rahal. Pato O'Ward is 3rd, followed by Christian Lundgaard and Alexander Rossi. Dixon has more seconds of push-to-pass available than his pursuers.

Lap 63: Graham Rahal takes his final pit stop. Scott Dixon leads.

Lap 60 leaders: Graham Rahal leads Pato O'Ward by 5+ seconds after Scott Dixon pits. Christian Lundgaard is 3rd, Dixon 4th and Alexander Rossi 5th.

Lap 52: Christian Lundgaard has a poor pit stop with fueling issues, and Pato O'Ward easily gets by.

Lap 50 leaders: Christian Lundgaard is on top after Graham Rahal pits. Scott Dixon is in 2nd, Rahal 3rd, Pato O'Ward 4th, Romain Grosjean 5th.

Lap 40 leaders: Graham Rahal is up 1+ seconds on Christian Lundgaard, with Alexander Rossi, Pato O'Ward and Alex Palou behind. The first 4 are in the same order as they qualified. Palou, 9 seconds from the lead, has moved up 3 spots.

Rahal has 135 of his 200 available push-to-pass seconds remaining, more than his competitors.

Lap 30 leaders: Scott Dixon, Romain Grosjean (both on alternate pit strategies), Graham Rahal, Christian Lundgaard, Alexander Rossi

Lap 24: Graham Rahal takes his first pit stop with a 3-second lead. He comes out just ahead of Alexander Rossi, who had pitted earlier.

Lap 20 leaders: Graham Rahal leads Alexander Rossi by about 1 second. Christian Lundgaard, Scott McLaughlin and Alex Palou round out the top 5.

Lap 16: Santino Ferrucci leaves his pit box with an air gun beneath his car, getting wrapped around an axle. He gets a stop-and-go penalty.

Lap 12: Alex Palou and Devlin DeFrancesco make contact, costing Palou a position. But Palou gets by DeFrancesco later.

Lap 10 leaders: Graham Rahal, Alexander Rossi, Devlin DeFrancesco, Pato O'Ward, Christian Lundgaard.

Restart on Lap 8: After 1 more lap in second place, Graham Rahal passes Devlin DeFrancesco for the lead. Josef Newgarden must serve a drive-through penalty for receiving full service in a closed pit.

Lap 1 caution: Devlin DeFrancesco moves from 5th to 1st in the opening turns.

Midway through Lap 1, multiple laps get involved in a crash − including second- and third-place contenders Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon, and top rookie Marcus Armstrong, as well as Romain Grosjean.

Newgarden, starting 25th, is last on the scene, and his car climbs over Armstrong's. Newgarden requires a new front wing.

Dixon, by taking the green flag, passes Tony Kanaan with his series-record 319th consecutive start.

Alex Palou's contract situation takes a twist

Palou, the 2023 IndyCar points leader for Chip Ganassi Racing, was believed to be headed to McLaren Racing for 2024. However, a letter written by McLaren boss Zak Brown reveals that Palou doesn't intend to join the McLaren team. That raises a lot of questions. Ganassi fires back at the McLaren team for "playing the victim."

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IndyCar starting lineup at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

1. Graham Rahal

2. Christian Lundgaard

3. Alexander Rossi

4. Pato O'Ward

5. Devlin DeFrancesco

6. Romain Grojsean

7. Marcus Armstrong

8. Alex Palou

9. Felix Rosenqvist

10. Scott McLaughlin

11. Colton Herta

12. Linus Lundqvist

13. Kyle Kirkwood

14. Jack Harvey

15. Scott Dixon

16. Will Power

17. Marcus Ericsson

18. Helio Castroneves

19. Rinus VeeKay

20. Santino Ferrucci

21. Ryan Hunter-Reay

22. Agustin Canapino

23. Sting Ray Robb

24. Callum Ilott

25. Josef Newgarden

26. Benjamin Pedersen

27. David Malukas

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar: Scott Dixon wins, results, crashes at Indianapolis