IndyCar – Genesys 300: Dixon Dominates Season Opener

Texas Motor Speedway played host to the delayed 2020 IndyCar season opener for the first time, and it was the seasoned veterans that claimed the podium finishes, with 5x IndyCar champion Scott Dixon coming out on top, having lead 157 of 200 laps.

Polesitter Josef Newgarden won the start and lead for the first 31 laps, with Dixon and Newgarden’s Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud running within 1 second of each other. However on lap 32 Dixon made the move for the lead, and the Kiwi scarcely looked back.

Soon after, the rookies of Rinus Veekay for Ed Carpenter Racing and Dale Coyne Racing’s Alex Palou came together. Veekay made contact with the outside wall before falling into the infield, Palou the innocent bystander as the #21 Ed Carpenter car speared into his path.

After another caution ended on lap 86, Newgarden was back leading ahead of the 2 Chip Ganassi cars of Felix Rosenqvist and Dixon. Dixon however made short work of both his teammate and leader Newgarden and was soon back at the front.

Former Formula E star Rosenqvist had a very impressive race to start just his 2nd IndyCar season, however with 10 laps to go, it all went wrong for the Swede. Marco Andretti pulled a stunning move around the outside of Rosenqvist and Andretti Autosport teammate James Hinchcliffe. Rosenqvist tried to follow suit but lost the rear before slamming into the outside wall, losing what should have been at least a podium finish.

The drama wasn’t over however, as at the same moment Dixon crossed the line to win he was met with a yellow checker as the #4 A. J. Foyt Enterprises car of Charlie Kimball crashed from a promising 11th place.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Takuma Sato failed to take the start after crashing heavily in qualifying earlier in the day.

IndyCar returns on July 4th for the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Road Course.

Race highlights courtesy of IndyCar can be seen below:

Championship standings after Round 1 are as follows:

NB: due to varying team sizes, the top 2 results for each team is counted (not official)