Scott Dixon recalls the ‘extremely tough’ ordeal Chip Ganassi Racing handed to Colton Herta, Josef Newgarden, and Alex Palou

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon, recently recalled his 2024 Long Beach Grand Prix win. Dixion reflected on how the correct strategy put Colton Herta, Josef Newgarden and Alex Palou in a tough spot during the race.

During last year's race, Dixon started in eighth place and was not in contention to win due to the lack of pace. However, a combination of the right strategy and speed helped them pull off a major upset.

While in an interview with IndyCar staff writer Curt Cavin, Dixon reflected on his win from last year and the strategy that worked for him and the team.

“Because we had saved fuel and saved a ton of (tire wear), we were in a great position to win that race,” he said. “We also had trimmed the car out (aerodynamically) because of where we started (deeper in the field than is ideal). All of those factors combined made it extremely tough (for Newgarden, Herta and Palou) to get by. It was a case of everything aligning, but man was it stressful,” he added.

On lap 51, after making his second pit-stop, the Chip Ganassi Racing team and driver thought they could make a final pit-stop during the caution, but that yellow never came. Therefore, Dixon has to save his fuel and tires to the end. The car #9 driver assumed the race lead 10 laps later on lap 61.

During the last 10 laps of the 85-lap race, Newgarden was all over Dixon's rear wing but got pushed down to fourth due to a tap by Andretti Global's Colton Herta at the hairpin, who later hunted down Scott Dixon. The #9 Chip Ganassi driver won the race due to the execution of a perfect strategy.

Mike Hull, Scott Dixon's race strategist, spoke about how he wasn't surprised with his win because of his ability to make good strategy calls during challenging races. He said:

“What Dixon does a really good job of is, he understands how to go fast and make fuel (last). There are a lot of drivers who make fuel, but they don’t know how to put the laps together and still be fast. Everybody throws darts at that dart board – ‘Oh, Scott just saves fuel (better than others)’ – but if they’d look at the comparative lap times, they’d see he’s going fast, too. Last year at Long Beach, we knew that we had to run like that to win that race, and we knew that we were going to be (in for a battle) late in the race. Then those guys fought so hard among themselves that it didn’t happen for them.”

During the Thermal Club Grand Prix this year, however, the strategy didn't work out for Scott Dixon and the #9 crew as they would have wanted. Dixon spoke about it and mentioned that 'that's how things work sometimes'. At the season opener at St. Petersburg, he finished in second place despite the problems with his radio communication. Currently, Scott Dixon and Chip Ganassi will be looking to make a comeback at the ACURA Grand Prix of Long Beach scheduled to take place on April 13th.

Scott Dixon speaks about his potential retirement from IndyCar

The New Zealander, Scott Dixon, recently opened up about his potential retirement from the sport. The 44-year-old, however, is still performing at his best and often fighting for the top spot.

While in an interview with The New Zealand Herald, Dixon spoke about his plans to retire. He mentioned that factors such as performance and competitiveness will play a key role in his decision.

“I think not being competitive is probably the first thing, you know? I've got a lot of lots of friends that have retired and ... a lot of those people kind of regret doing it. I think it's a pure luxury to, you know, do something that you actually, really, really love. There will be a point, you know, for me, if you're just getting your arse kicked, then, you know, you don't want to continuously do that, that's for sure. I enjoy getting pushed constantly. And you know, for me it burns stronger and brighter than it ever has been,” Scott Dixon said.

Dixon's season is off to a great start as he finished in 2nd position at the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg despite the radio communication issues. This also helped Chip Ganassi Racing get their 1-2 with Alex Palou finishing in 1st place.