“Drivers start your engines” these iconic words read off by Long Beach native Gabirel “Fluffy” Iglesias kicked off the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where IndyCar driver Scott Dixon placed at the top of the podium.
The 49th Grand Prix of Long Beach attracted tens of thousands of spectators who broke a record for the NTT IndyCar Series race during race weekend.
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi racing driver, clutched the 49th Acura Grand Prix with a fueled up strategy on the Long Beach track.
Dixon, number 9, fought his way to the top of the charts from his start up position at eighth in lap 33.
“It was definitely a bit sketchy in the fact the pressure it’s coming in hot…huge credit to the team,” Dixon said.
Dixon has been driving for PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing for 23 seasons which is the longest tenure for any driver in team history.
“I’m not sure about the most improbable victory, but it was certainly one of the most hard fought,” Ganassi told the Los Angeles Times.
This year’s win at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach was Dixon’s 9th attempt at a win in Long Beach, now he’s won twice at Long Beach making this his 57th win of his career.
After lap 33 Dixon stayed in the lead for 18 laps until Kyle Kirkwood overtook him on lap 51, however Josef Newgarden overtook Kirkwood for the next six laps.
Colton Herta took over Newgarden for four laps helping him land in second place after Dixon surpassed him on the 62nd lap.
After surpassing Herta, Dixon stayed in the lead having had his last pitstop on lap 61.
“It’s nice to get some kind of crazy strategies going on and have two strategies playing out,” Dixon said.
Dixons strategy for the last laps was to save as much fuel as possible while staying in the lead, luckily his light, that indicates when they’re about to run out of foul in a few laps, didn’t go off in the last two laps letting him finish the race with a time of 1:42:03.1416.
Herta came in second after lifting Newgarden in the eighth lap by two feet and overtaking him.
“It seemed pretty obvious that [Herta] misjudged and ran into me,” Newgarden told the Los Angeles Times regarding the controversy.
Newgarden ended up in fourth place after Alex Palou overtook him and ended in third place with a gap of -1.766.
Felix Rosenqvist, number 60, who had the fastest lap during the qualifying session on the second day was passed on the second lap by Will Power, number 12, and ended in ninth place.
The race concluded and many racers were disappointed with their standing but many will be able to recover points at the Barber Motorsports Park.