Dixon beats McLaughlin in wild IndyCar finale

The 2023 IndyCar season wrapped up in style with Scott Dixon leading Scott McLaughlin, who overcame a drive-through penalty to snatch third in the championship in a Kiwi one-two finish at Laguna Seca.

After a race full of incidents, Dixon enjoyed a seven-second lead over McLaughlin when he took the chequered flag.

The 2023 champion Alex Palou rounded out the top three, while Australia’s Will Power ensured it was a successful day for the trans-Tasman stars by finishing fourth having also suffered an early drive through.

Despite also finding trouble at one point, Kiwi Marcus Armstrong bounced back to get eighth and secure the rookie of the year title.

For McLaughlin, he loved the wild ride to second and was extremely pleased to snatch third in the standings as the highest placed Chevrolet.

“That was peak IndyCar right there,” McLaughlin said post race.

“There was a lot of concertina stuff and things I could and could not avoid, it was crazy, but I am so proud of everyone at Xpel Chevy.

“You get a drive through and you think your day is done and then you come back, but I had a mega second to last restart where I passed six or seven cars.

“To get third in the championship and be the top Chevy is an absolute bonus. 

“From a driving perspective to be (ahead of) the two legends I have as teammates I am really proud of.

“There is still a lot of work to do, but 2024 started today and we are really proud of our effort.”

Power said the crazy race reminded him of his early years of IndyCar racing.

The Aussie Penske driver ended up seventh in the championship having endured his first winless year since his rookie campaign all the way back in 2008.

However, Power doesn’t mind having endured more important matters back home.

“It used to be a lot like this around 10 years ago with mixed up strategy and crazy restarts and yellows,” he said.

“It was a textbook old school IndyCar race. You just had to hang in there. Got a drive through penalty and put to the back.

“We thought this might be the case leading in because it is very easy to make a mistake and go off, so I am happy to get back to fourth.

“It was not a good enough year. From a personal side it was really tough at the start with my wife getting real sick, but she is better now and after everything she went through you don’t really care about the rest.

“We will be back next year fighting hard.”

Felix Rosenqvist led from pole before McLaughlin got caught in an incident at the Andretti Hairpin.

McLaughlin was battling for second before his Penske Chev was clipped by Christian Lundgaard and the Kiwi was forced to tour the sand.

This triggered a multi-car collision between Marcus Armstrong, Juri Vips and Graham Rahaul which sent Josef Newgarden into the gravel.

To complete the chaos, Dixon, who started 11th after an engine change, hit Kyle Kirkwood.

At the restart Palou took control with Power settling in second before a Newgarden spin brought out another caution.

When racing resumed Power dropped to fourth, while McLaughlin recovered to 12th.

Up front Palou had built a solid 9s lead, but it almost ended abruptly when the lapped Helio Castroneves spun in front of him.

A caution was required when Rosenqvist and Marcus Ericsson had spins at turns two and three, which allowed Palou to pit and rejoin ahead of Power.

Power then found trouble at the restart when he made contact with both Benjamin Pedersen and Callum Ilott.

But there were bigger dramas for McLaughlin, who needed a new front wing after hitting Santino Ferrucci.

Racing resumed on lap 42 with Palou leading Pato O’Ward and remained green for another 18 tours until David Malukas and Devin DeFrancesco clashed at turn three.

This was a major setback for Palo, who dropped to 15th after pitting under yellow.

The next two attempts at restarts ended in disaster with the first seeing Ferrucci becoming airborne over the back of Palou, while Armstrong was spun by Pederson on the second occasion.

With 23 laps to go racing resumed and Dixon and McLaughlin started to make their moves towards the front having been outside the top six with the three-time Supercars champion flying from to 

Grosjean made a move on O’Ward into turn two to take the lead and the latter had a slow getaway from the final corner later in the lap which opened the door for both Dixon and McLaughlin to fly by.

Soon yet another caution arrived when Castroneves and Herta clashed at turn three and Grosjean and O’Ward boxed.

This promoted Dixon and McLaughlin up to first and second.

They led the field when racing resumed with 17 to go and Dixon’s pace proved too relentless for McLaughlin.

It was one wild end to the 2023 IndyCar season.

2023 IndyCar championship standings

1 Alex Palou 656 points

2 Scott Dixon -78

3 Scott McLaughlin -168

4 Pato O’Ward -172

5 Josef Newgarden -178

6 Marcus Ericsson -218

7 Will Power -231

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