Scott Dixon pulled off an admirable three-stop strategy to take victory at World Wide Technology Raceway.
The Chip Ganassi driver managed fewer pit stops than his competitors to take his second consecutive win of 2023.
Dixon praised Honda for the fuel mileage and said: “But huge testament obviously to Honda. I know there’s a lot of other Hondas out there.
“But to get the car in the zone, obviously the pace was still good, we could maintain almost a flat-out pace, but get almost, I don’t know, one mpg higher than you would regularly.
“It was pretty special. Obviously a team effort. There were definitely times, especially when we got to the red tyre as well, I don’t think it’s going to last. We kind of got stuck with a couple back markers there and lost touch with the 28 car at that point. I was feeling a little bit miserable.”
The Kiwi led 123 of the 260 laps, and the found the restarts tricky to manage on the final oval of the year: “There were definitely some tense moments.
“I think probably the hardest part was the restart where we were leading, having to get a pretty high fuel number. We weren’t getting it. We were a ways off.
“But I knew we could kind of stress that kind of second through fifth pack, get them into a pretty vulnerable situation.
“I knew once we caught the back markers, we’d be able to save and get beyond the fuel mileage that we needed to. It actually worked out perfectly. We were able to go further and beyond where we needed to.”
IndyCar ran the softer alternate tyre on an oval for the first time, adding another layer of strategic element to the 260-lap race.
Dixon enjoyed the amount of degradation the red-sidewalled tyre had throughout the stint, although the six-time IndyCar champion would prefer a steeper tyre wear curve next season.
“The tyre was kind of interesting. It actually had a good amount of deg. But I think for next year, I think you’d almost want to double that deg.
“I think having an alternate tyre, you really kind of want it to – I know Firestone doesn’t want to do it because that’s the product they produce, they produce very good tires – but I think for falloff like we see at Iowa where you go from an 18-second lap all the way to 22s, 23s, you have good cars coming and going, people able to make changes throughout the race.”
With two rounds to go in the championship, Dixon closed the gap in the standings to 74 points from his team mate Alex Palou.
The 43-year-old is focused on the fact that the championship can only be won by Ganassi and is delighted to have won at two contrasting circuits in the IMS Road Course and World Wide Technology Raceway.
“A win always feels good. To go back to back feels fantastic, on two very different circuits. Again, I think it’s a testament to what this team has been able to do, all four cars throughout this year.
“It’s definitely been a bit of a trying year for us I think. As I mentioned before, not getting the results that the team deserved.
“I think what is special is going into the last two races, it can only be a Ganassi driver, which is very cool. I know that makes Chip very proud, and the hundred-plus employees that work at that place, as well.”
