New Zealanders Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi) somehow managed to overcome all the adversity. Detroit and the Victory A chaotic race this Sunday could see him emerge as the new championship leader. Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi) finished 16th When he was involved in an accident with Josef Newgarden (Penske).

There was a lot of contact between cars in a race that was run under yellow flags for much of the race, and a brief rain shower on lap 36 caused chaos, with cars skidding around many corners and frequent trips to the pits for tyres.

The key moment came with 30 laps to go: the two title contenders collided. It was really strange to see Palou involved in the crash, and although it was not his fault, the Spaniard had no room to maneuver when Newgarden’s car was spotted crossing on a bend.

The winner is the one who knew best how to adapt to all these difficulties, in addition to how to avoid the risk of being hit by his rival at each corner. Dixon took the lead with a third of the race left and made the difference by going very fast, without making any mistakes and giving no problems to those behind. However, his strategy of finishing with very little fuel was risky.

Dixon added his 58th victory in an IndyCar season, moving him to just nine behind the winningest driver of all time, Anthony Joseph Foyt, who topped the box with 67 wins.

“In Detroit it’s about avoiding all the surprises, the bumps, the rain…” Dixon said as he got out of his car, also expressing his intention to continue chasing Foyt’s record as the winningest driver in history.

The battle for victory is fierce

When IndyCar arrives in Wisconsin next Sunday, June 9, Dixon will lead the standings with 216 points, with Palou in second, 18 units back. Will Power (Penske) is third at 31 and Mexico’s Pato O’Ward (Arrow McLaren) is fourth at 56.

Never losing the lead was in Palou’s plans, as he has proven to be the most consistent driver – in fact, it was the first time in Detroit that the Spaniard had not finished in the top five.

With ten races remaining on the calendar across five circuits and five ovals, the battle for the championship is wider than ever.

As soon as we set off, we realized what Detroit’s urban circuit, with its concrete barriers and extremely narrow roads, was going to mean. On the first lap, a seven-car accident brought out the first yellow.

On lap 36, unexpected rain forced most of the drivers to pit for tires, at which point Andretti’s Colton Herta was comfortably in the lead after leveraging his pole position.

There were tense moments, some pit areas were wet and some cars, like Newgarden’s, slipped and nearly injured several mechanics.

Herta’s race ended on lap 46 when, while trying to overtake Palou, he was unable to gain the necessary wheel grip and crashed into the wall.

It was a crowning moment for the Spaniard, who finished in the top four with 40 laps to go, behind the Andretti of Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson and the McLaren of Alexander Rossi.

But then he crashed out with Newgarden with 30 laps to go, and the 500-meter winner abandoned the tradition of Indianapolis champions not doing better in their next race, fulfilling that tradition.

The “Arrow McLaren” team launched an attack on the final laps, with two drivers, Rossi and O’Ward, in contention for the podium, finishing in fifth and seventh place respectively.

Argentinian Agustin Canapino ended his fine career in Detroit, finishing in 12th place, his best result in a race with official points so far in the championship.