Scott Dixon Earns 53rd Career Win; No. 9 PNC Bank Team Jump to 2nd in Standings

Scott Dixon and the No. 9 PNC Bank team made history at the Music City Grand Prix today, as he registered his 53rd career win, breaking a tie with Mario Andretti for the 2nd-most in INDYCAR SERIES history (A.J. Foyt: 67).

Dixon is the first driver to take sole possession of second place on the all-time wins list since July 1, 1984, when Mario Andretti won his 37th INDYCAR SERIES race at the Meadowlands to break a tie with Al Unser Sr.

Dixon has now picked up 2 wins and 5 top-5 finishes in his past 6 races. With today’s victory, Dixon jumped into 2nd on the points leaderboard (444), just 6 points back of the leader. Dixon has registered 220 points in that time (since Mid-Ohio), the most among the field. 

Dixon’s win marked the 4th-narrowest margin of victory on a street or road course in series history (0.1067 seconds). 

Chip Ganassi Racing picked up their 2nd victory on the Streets of Nashville, now holding both all-time race wins in track history (Ericsson: 2021). CGR claimed their 122nd INDYCAR SERIES victory and their 243rd race win overall today.

Alex Palou and the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda led a charge through the Streets of Nashville and produced a podium finish in P3. Palou has now registered a podium finish in 13-of-30 (43%) of his NTT INDYCAR SERIES races with CGR.

Music City Grand Prix
Music City Grand Prix Results
P1 – Scott Dixon, No. 9 PNC Bank Honda
P3 – Alex Palou, No. 10 NTT DATA Honda
P14 – Marcus Ericsson, No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda
P18 – Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Carvana Honda

NTT INDYCAR SERIES 
Points Standings After Nashville
1 – Will Power (450)
2 – Scott Dixon (444)
3 – Marcus Ericsson (438)
5 – Alex Palou (417)
21 – Jimmie Johnson (178)

Scott Dixon
No. 9 PNC Bank Honda
“We knew the No. 9 PNC Bank was fast all weekend. Kudos to the team; we had a big crash there and took half the floor off the car. We had to take four turns of front wing off, so we had no grip. I think we did about 45 or 50 laps on that last set of tires. Nashville is awesome and that was such a wild day. These ones are a lot of fun because it’s such a team effort and for all that we achieved.”

Marcus Ericsson
No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda
“It was a crazy race here in Nashville. First, congrats to Scott and the No. 9 team for the victory and Alex for the P3 result. For us, we got hit multiple times, cut tires and yellows falling at the wrong times, but we still kept fighting through the whole race. We got ourselves up there to a top-5 at the end off another restart, but unfortunately, got hit again and the car just couldn’t take it. We tried to get to the end, but it was just not possible with the damage. Extremely disappointing because I thought we had a great race, great pace in the car and the driving was really good, as well. I’m proud of the effort from the No. 8 Huski Chocolate crew and how we kept fighting. Didn’t get the result we deserved, but we’re very much in the mix and looking forward to Gateway and the last few races.”

Alex Palou 
No. 10 NTT DATA Honda
“I thought it was a good day for the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda car. The team did such an amazing job with the pit stops and strategy all day. I’m very happy and it was well deserved for the team, and for Scott Dixon, as well. It’s time to push once again to get this NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship. We got one step closer, but a long way to go.”

Jimmie Johnson
No. 48 Carvana Honda
“Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the end of the race today. Had some contact in the race and some suspension damage. We were setting up to have a really strong finish and something happened during turn four on the lap I crashed. I’m not really sure why, but the car started bottoming badly. Tore up the car and unfortunately, didn’t get to the finish line. It was a great effort from everyone, just sad we didn’t make it the distance.”