Scott Dixon has passed Mario Andretti for second on IndyCar's all-time wins list with victory in the messy Music City Grand Prix that pulled him within reach of a record-tying seventh series championship.
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Dixon overcame a poor qualifying effort, damage to his Chip Ganassi Racing car, a crash-fest around the downtown streets of Nashville and finally a drag race against Scott McLaughlin in a two-lap push to the finish on Sunday. He won for the 53rd time of his career to break a tie with Andretti for second in the all-time column.
More important, Dixon jumped to second in the points standings and trails series-leading Australian Will Power by six points with three races remaining. One more title would tie him with A.J. Foyt with a record seven championships.
Foyt is also IndyCar's all-time winner with 67 victories.
McLaughlin, for Team Penske, finished second for a 1-2 finish for the drivers from New Zealand after the three-time Supercars champion started from pole.
The .1067-second margin of victory was the fourth-closest in IndyCar history on a road or street course.
"He's a legend, the GOAT," McLaughlin said.
"I've always dreamed of racing him to the finish line. That was a proper duel."
Alex Palou, the reigning IndyCar champion, finished third as Ganassi put two drivers on the podium. Palou moved one spot in the standings to fifth as 33 points separate the title contenders.
Alexander Rossi and Colton Herta finished fourth and fifth for Andretti Autosport, while hometown driver Josef Newgarden was sixth.
Newgarden has had a rough stretch since crashing while leading at Iowa three races ago.
Although leading late in the race, he had to pit for fuel and later had contact with Romain Grosjean, who was furious with Newgarden after the collision.
"Welcome to IndyCar. It gets tight. I don't know what to tell him," Newgarden said.
"Let me tell you what, I about got taken out six times myself. I probably need to have some discussion with some of the younger guys, but they're aggressive. They're very aggressive and if you're not aggressive back, then you get run over. That's IndyCar racing. You've got to learn that pretty quick. I don't like it, but that's the game that we're in."
It was an equally difficult day for defending race winner Marcus Ericsson, who was only nine points behind Power at the start of the race. But like teammate Dixon, Ericsson had a poor qualifying effort and struggled to come through the field from 18th.
He finished 14th and dropped to third in the standings. The Indianapolis 500 winner trails Power, who crossed in 11th after jumping from eighth on the grid, by 12 points.
Australian Associated Press
