Dixon, McLaughlin complete Kiwi one-two at IndyCar Texas

May 2, 2021

Dixon and McLaughlin went one-two in the race in Texas today.

Kiwi drivers Scott Dixon and Scott McLaughlin have gone one-two at the Texas IndyCar race this afternoon, with Dixon winning his fifth race at the Texas sprint.

Dixon had another dominant victory, winning the first of two races on consecutive days at the IndyCar Series' first oval track this season.

Dixon passed teammate and polesitter Alex Palou at the start of the third lap and went on to lead 206 of 212 laps for his 51st career victory, his fifth at the high-banked, 1 1/2-mile Texas Motor Speedway.

The 40-year-old New Zealander finished .2646 seconds ahead of McLaughlin, a 27-year-old IndyCar rookie in his first oval race.

“Who doesn’t love Texas. I love this place,” Dixon said. “I was looking down, and looking in the mirror. He was fast.”

Dixon moved with one of matching Mario Andretti’s 52 victories for the second-most on the career list that A.J. Foyt tops with 67.

Dixon has now won a race in 19 different seasons, breaking a tie with Foyt for the most.

Dixon last year won his sixth season title, one short of Foyt's record seven.

“I never dreamed of that. I feel so lucky and so privileged to do what I get to do,” he said.

Dixon is the first driver to win consecutive IndyCar races at Texas, which has now hosted 33 races — the 34th comes Sunday — in the track's 25 seasons of races.

He won last June in what was the opener in the pandemic-altered 2020 season.

The margin between the two Kiwis was next to nothing in the final few laps, and while McLaughlin was second-best, he was "stoked" with the result, which saw him make his first podium finish in his young career.

"I've never been so happy to be second," he said.

"It was bloody cool battling with one of my all-time heroes.

"I'm just so proud. I've worked really hard behind the scenes."

He was not the only one celebrating, his family were also cheering him on from their home in Cambridge.

"Our house was screaming, you would have heard us just about from Auckland," McLaughlin's father Wayne told 1 NEWS.

"We're just blown away. first oval and he's chasing down his lifetime hero in Scottie Dixon, pretty emotional for us actually to be honest.

"We were very silent for a while because you just couldn't believe exactly where he was.

"He'll pinch himself tonight I reckon."

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