AUSTIN, Texas – What started with promise – and even held it late in the race – didn’t end so well for Chip Ganassi Racing in the INDYCAR Classic.
The team’s drivers, Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist, were on the third row for Sunday’s start of the inaugural NTT IndyCar Series race at Circuit of The Americas, and both were competitive for the early portions of the 60-lap event. But trouble found them, and both left frustrated.
Dixon raced through the field and was third when called to the pits under the only full-course caution of the day on Lap 46. He never recovered and finished 13th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.
Rosenqvist, the team’s 27-year-old rookie who finished fourth in the NTT IndyCar Series season opener March 10 at St. Petersburg, Florida, also encountered difficulties. He spun and recovered at one point, then tangled with James Hinchcliffe on Lap 44 to bring out said yellow flag when Rosenqvist slid into a barrier, ending his race with a 23rd-place finish in the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda.
“We had good speed in the NTT DATA car,” Rosenqvist said. “We just couldn’t get where we needed to in the race. I made a mistake and spun, which didn’t help. And then Hinchcliffe and I got together and I got knocked out. I’m not sure what happened exactly, but I’ll have to look at the replay.”
Dixon made a charge in the middle of the race, working his way into the top 10 on the demanding 3.41-mile permanent road course and all the way to third before the incident involving Rosenqvist and Hinchcliffe.
Two laps later, leader Will Power, second-place Alexander Rossi and Dixon entered the pits as the drivers trailing them – Colton Herta, Josef Newgarden and Ryan Hunter-Reay – remained on track. While the trio that pitted surrendered critical track position, Herta inherited the lead and went on to win the race, becoming the youngest winner in Indy car history at 18 years, 359 days old.
Afterward, Dixon expressed his displeasure.
“It wasn’t our best race with the PNC Bank team,” said the 2018 series champion who’s trying to win back-to-back titles for the first time. “I’m really not sure what to say about it. I’m pretty frustrated and not sure what else to say.”
Despite the trouble, both drivers remained in the top 10 in driver standings – Dixon third (36 points behind leader Newgarden), Rosenqvist 10th (53 points out of the lead) – heading to the third race of the season, the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham on Sunday, April 7 (4 p.m. ET, NBCSN and Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.
“There were things I learned, for sure,” Rosenqvist said. “We’ll come back stronger.”